Predictors of food and physical activity patterns among schoolchildren in the region of Sousse, Tunisia.

Aim: To facilitate the improvement of future interventions, it's important to know the determinants of healthy behaviors. Our aim was to determine the predictors of healthy habits in a school based intervention study to promote healthy diet and physical activity among schoolchildren in the region of Sousse, Tunisia.

Methods: It was a quasi-experimental intervention study with two groups: control and intervention group with pre-post evaluation of nutrition and physical activity intention and behavior in each group.

Clinical and mycological features of onychomycosis in central Tunisia: a 22 years retrospective study (1986-2007).

Onychomycosis is the most frequently encountered nail disease and may be difficult to diagnose and treat. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence, the clinical and mycological characteristics of onychomycosis in central Tunisia. It is a retrospective study performed over a 22-year period (1986-2007).

[Profile of tobacco use among the teachers of Sousse, Tunisia].

Objective: To examine the prevalence of tobacco use among the teachers in the region of Sousse (Tunisia) and to identify the factors, which determine this behavior.

Patients And Methods: It is a transactional study; using a self-administered and pre-tested questionnaire to 800 teachers.

Results: The population being studied was made up of 739 teachers including 50.

School-based Intervention to Promote Healthy Lifestyles in Sousse, Tunisia.

Background: Integrated actions against selected risk factors (i.e. smoking, physical inactivity, and unhealthy diet) can lead to the reduction of major chronic diseases.

Comparison of cigarette and waterpipe smoking among pupils in the urban area of Sousse, Tunisia.

Background: Epidemiological and observational evidence suggests that waterpipe use is growing in popularity worldwide.

Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the prevalence of cigarette and water pipe tobacco use among pupils aged 13-17 years in the urban area of Sousse, Tunisia and to identify the factors which predict current cigarette and/or waterpipe smoking in this population.

Methods: Across-sectional study was carried out on a representative sample of schoolchildren aged between 13 and 17 years in colleges and public secondary schools of the urban area of Sousse.

[Intervention on smoking in adolescents in Sousse, Tunisia].

Purpose: To increase knowledge about smoking via a school prevention programme.

Patients And Methods: This quasi-experimental study included two groups: a control and an intervention group with a pre- and a post-evaluation of knowledge about smoking in each group. The target population consisted of students of 12 to 16 years old in Sousse, Tunisia.

Tracking of lipids in schoolchildren: a four-year followup, population-based study in Sousse (Tunisia).

Objective: Dyslipidaemia, which is now seen as one of the most important cardiovascular risk factors, is becoming more common in the younger population. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of tracking serum lipid levels over a four-year period in an urban population of schoolchildren.

Methods: The study began in 1999 with a cohort of 789 schoolchildren.

Association of hepatitis C virus infection and diabetes in central Tunisia.

Aim: To investigate hepatitis C virus (HCV) seroprevalence in Tunisian patients with diabetes mellitus and in a control group.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the HCV seroprevalence in 1269 patients with diabetes (452 male, 817 female) and 1315 non-diabetic patients, attending health centers in Sousse, Tunisia. HCV screening was performed in both groups using a fourth-generation enzyme immunoassay.

Prevalence of the metabolic syndrome among urban schoolchildren in Sousse, Tunisia.

No evidence exists regarding the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in adolescents in North African countries. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Tunisian adolescents. A representative sample of 1569 adolescents was enrolled.

[Attitudes of teachers to tobacco smoking].

We aimed to evaluate the attitudes of teachers to tobacco smoking in Kalaa Kebira (a semi-urban region in the Tunisian Sahel). Data from 358 of 402 teachers surveyed were obtained using a self-completed questionnaire. The mean age of the teachers was 35.

[Knowledge of patients with type 2 diabetes about their condition in Sousse, Tunisia].

We assessed the knowledge of 404 type 2 diabetic patients about their condition in order to evaluate the quality of diabetes education in primary health care units in Sousse in 2003. We found that knowledge was satisfactory in only 59% of the patients. Their knowledge about the definition of diabetes and its pathophysiology were the 2 main areas where knowledge was lacking: the proportion of correct answers were 62.

Epidemiology of infective endocarditis in Tunisia: a 10-year multicenter retrospective study.

Background: Since the first description of infective endocarditis, the profile of the disease has evolved continuously with stable incidence. However, epidemiological features are different in developing countries compared with western countries.

Objective: To describe epidemiological, microbiological and outcome characteristics of infective endocarditis in Tunisia.

[Tobacco use among teachers in a district of the Tunisian Sahel].

Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the scale of tobacco use among teachers in the district of Kalaa Kebira (a semi-urban region in the Tunisian Sahel).

Methods: The study design was descriptive and cross sectional, employing a self administered questionnaire given to 402 teachers.

Results: The response rate was 89%.

[Audit of management of arterial hypertension in primary health care in Sousse].

A medical audit has been carried out on a representative sample of 456 hypertensive patients followed in the health care facilities of Sousse during 2002, to evaluate the quality of management of hypertension in primary health care. The study yielded the following results: the patients selected for a first line follow-up did not represent more than 79% of the studied population. The minimal recommended balance was achieved in 8% of cases only.

Medical students and tobacco in 2004: a survey in Sousse, Tunisia.

Objective: To assess the behaviour, knowledge and attitudes towards smoking among medical students in Sousse, Tunisia.

Design: A cross-sectional survey in classroom settings using a self-administered questionnaire was conducted at the School of Medicine during September 2004.

Results: The numbers of students who entered the first and the fifth years of medical training at the University of Sousse in 2004 and completed the questionnaire were respectively 120 and 110.

Epidemiology of hypertension among a population of school children in Sousse, Tunisia.

Background: Pediatric hypertension is a field of increasing interest and importance. Early identification of children at risk for hypertension is important to prevent the serious, long-term complications associated with the condition. In Tunisia, there are no data available on the cardiovascular disease risk profile, such as hypertension, in the population of children.

[Behaviours and needs for health of secondary-school-adolescents in Sousse (Tunisia)].

It was a descriptive study bearing on a probabilistic sample of one-degree cluster composed of 685 adolescents studying in six secondary state schools in Sousse, during 1998-1999 school year. The facts had been collected through an anonymous and self administrated questionnaire. 23.

[The quality of first line management of arterial hypertension in the sanitary region of Sousse].

The aim of the study is to value determinants of the quality of management of hypertension in structures of primary health care, a medical audit has been achieved on a representative sample of 456 hypertensive patients followed in the sanitary region of Sousse during the year 2002. It takes out again this work that the global quality of management of hypertension in primary health care have been considered satisfactory at only 28,7% of the hypertensive patients. It was statistically differential according to surroundings (farming: 40,5%, urban: 24,9%) and categories of the seniority of follow-up in primary health care (< or = five years: 34,6%, > five years: 23,9%).

[Tracking of cardiovascular risk factors among school children: a four-year population surveillance in Susa, Tunisia].

In order to confirm the phenomenon of tracking of cardiovascular risk factors among school children, we undertook in 2003, a prospective survey of a population of 789 pupils aged 13 to 15 years who had participated in a first investigation on cardiovascular risk factors in 1999. We were able to follow and study 453 pupils (57.4% of the initial population).

Epidemiology of dyslipidemia among schoolchildren in Sousse, Tunisia.

In Tunisia, there is no available data on the CVD risk profile in the children population, although it is well known that risk factor development takes place during childhood. We undertook an epidemiological survey based on a representative sample of 1569 urban school children of Sousse in Tunisia to assess the prevalence of hypercholesterolemia and other lipid disorders. Prevalence of hypercholesterolemia (8.

Age-specific seroprevalence of hepatitis a among school children in central Tunisia.

Hepatitis A virus (HAV) has different epidemiologic and clinical patterns, depending on the level of endemicity in a given geographic area. Tunisia is considered a region of high endemicity for hepatitis. Improvement of socioeconomic conditions in this country has made a determination of the seroprevalence of this disease advisable.

[Quality of medical order writing in general practice facilities (Sousse, Tunisia)].

Background: A medical order is a medical and legal document; careful writing of this document enables the reduction of many therapeutic errors.

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the quality of order writing in Tunisian primary healthcare centres.

Methods: This was a transversal descriptive survey of 2586 medical orders.

Clustering of cardiovascular risk factors among obese urban schoolchildren in Sousse, Tunisia.

Against a background of increasing obesity among Tunisians, we conducted a transversal survey of 1569 children aged 13-19 years selected by multistage cluster sampling to evaluate the prevalence of obesity and clustering of cardiovascular risk factors among obese schoolchildren in the urban area of Sousse. Obese children were found to have higher blood pressure, higher triglyceride levels and lower high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels than children of normal weight. In both genders, the mean height and weight across all age groups was significantly higher in urban than in rural children.