Publications by authors named "Mohamad Alameddine"

Article Synopsis
  • - The text discusses the urgent need to enhance the role of community pharmacists (CPs) in managing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the UAE, where these diseases are seen as a public health crisis.
  • - A qualitative research study was conducted with 28 experts to gather insights, resulting in a roadmap focused on education, work environment, and policy improvements for CPs.
  • - Key suggestions include establishing specialized programs for NCDs, fostering collaboration between healthcare disciplines, and increasing CP engagement in public health initiatives, requiring cooperation from various stakeholders.
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Importance: Rohingya refugees, forcibly displaced from Myanmar, face challenges adapting to Bangladesh. Examining their quality of life (QOL) is vital to identifying nuanced factors associated with their well-being, informing targeted interventions for an improved QOL.

Objectives: To identify the QOL among Rohingya refugees 5 years after migration to Bangladesh, with a particular emphasis on understanding the complex interplay between sociodemographic factors and chronic illnesses.

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Introduction: Although Jordan has made significant progress toward expanding the utilization of facility-based intrapartum care, prior research highlights that poor service quality is still persistent. This study aimed to identify quality gaps between women's expectations and perceptions of the actual intrapartum care received, while exploring the contributing factors.

Methods: Utilizing a pre-post design, quality gaps in intrapartum care were assessed among 959 women pre- and postchildbirth at a prominent tertiary hospital in northern Jordan.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic precipitated increased workload, stress, and burnout on healthcare providers on the frontlines of the pandemic, dieticians were no exception. Such unprecedented occupational risks and stressors contributed to a higher intention to quit, potentially leading to workforce shortages, and hindering the delivery of quality care, especially for patients with chronic conditions. The aim of this study was to examine the prevalence factors associated with the intention to quit among dieticians in the United Arab Emirates during a public health emergency.

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There is a large body of research on Ramadan intermittent fasting (RIF) and health in Muslim communities, that can offer insights to promote the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 (SDG 3), which encompasses good health and well-being. Based on recent bibliometric evidence, we hypothesized that RIF research is highly relevant to SDG 3, particularly Targets 3.1, 3.

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Background And Aims: The Lebanese healthcare system faces multiple challenges including limited capacities, shortage of skilled professionals, and inadequate supplies, in addition to hosting a significant number of refugees. While subsidized services are available for pregnant women, representing the majority of the refugee population in Lebanon, suboptimal access to antenatal care (ANC) and increased maternal mortality rates are still observed, especially among socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. This study aimed to review the maternal health outcomes of disadvantaged Lebanese and refugee pregnant women seeking ANC services at primary healthcare centers (PHCs) in Lebanon.

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Background: College students report disturbed sleep patterns that can negatively impact their wellbeing and academic performance.

Objectives: This study examined the effect of a 4-week sleep hygiene program that included sleep education and actigraph sleep trackers (FITBITs) on improving sleep quality and reducing psychological worry without control group.

Design Settings And Participants: A pilot quasi-experimental design, participants were randomly selected medical and health sciences from a university students in the United-Arab-Emirates.

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Background: Adverse birth outcomes, such as preterm birth and low birth weight (LBW), are leading causes of neonatal morbidity and mortality. In this study, we aimed to estimate the association between inter-pregnancy interval (IPI) and the risks of adverse birth outcomes in a subsequent pregnancy.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective analysis involving 630 mothers who delivered a singleton live infant at a leading tertiary hospital in northern Jordan from March to August 2021.

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Background: Mass vaccination of the global population against the novel COVID-19 outbreak posed multiple challenges, including effectively administering millions of doses in a short period of time while ensuring public safety and accessibility. The government of Dubai launched a mass campaign in December 2020 to vaccinate all its citizens and residents, targeting the population aged >18 years against COVID-19. The vaccination campaign involved a transformation of multiple commercial spaces into mass vaccination centers across the city of Dubai, the largest of which was the Dubai One Central (DOC) vaccination center.

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Background: School nutrition programs impact the intellectual, social, and emotional development of school children, as well as their future risk of developing Non-Communicable Diseases. While many stakeholders are involved in the development, implementation, and evaluation of school nutrition programs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, little is known about the complementarity among those stakeholders, and the means to upscale school nutrition programs while ensuring effective, efficient, and equitable implementation. Accordingly, this study aims at exploring the perceptions of a diverse group of stakeholders, positioned at differing levels of the public health and education ecosystems in the United Arab Emirates, in relation to current guidelines and practices around the planning, implementation, and evaluation of school nutrition programs in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

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Background: Nurses make up the majority of the healthcare workforce. They contribute to the development of healthcare systems and the provision of high-quality, effective, and patient-centered healthcare services. However, nurses need good mental and emotional well-being to provide adequate care and the necessary physical and mental health support for their clients.

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Objective: Frontline healthcare workers experienced high levels of psychological distress and emotional turmoil due to the changes necessitated by the COVID-19 public health emergency. Given that workplace stress can negatively influence both quality of work, and job performance, this study sought to explore the lived experiences of work-related stress among female healthcare workers in United Arab of Emirates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A qualitative phenomenological investigation was performed using a purposive sampling approach.

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Background: Delivering patient-centered care is a declared objective of many health delivery systems globally, especially in an era of value-based health care. It entails the active engagement of the patients in healthcare decisions related to their health, also known as shared decision making (SDM). Little is known about the role of gender in shaping the perspective of patients on their opportunity for engaging in SDM in the Arabian Gulf Region.

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Introduction: The management of NCDs is a growing challenge in low- and middle-income settings with the increasing prevalence and the associated demands that such conditions make on health systems. Fragile settings both exacerbate the risk of NCDs and undermine systems capacity. Lebanon is a setting where strategies to address rising NCDs burden have faced particularly acute contextual challenges.

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Background: Existing evidence marked a prevalent use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) therapies in Lebanon that is concomitant with low rates of disclosure to health care providers and limited knowledge among the general public of safety and side effects of CAM use.

Objectives: To examine the perspectives of Lebanese CAM users, CAM providers, and health care providers (HCPs) regarding their understanding of CAM and of the Push and Pull factors that drive its use.

Methods: A qualitative research study was conducted using in-depth interviews, targeting Lebanese adults (CAM users; 18-65 years) (n=14), CAM providers such as yoga instructors, owners of CAM product outlets, herbalists, and religious figures (n=13); and HCPs including physicians, nurses, dietitians, and pharmacists (n=14).

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The COVID-19 pandemic had a major impact on people of all ages. Adolescents' exposure to online learning is linked to excessive screen time on digital devices, which leads to poor sleep quality. This study aimed to investigate the association between screen time on different electronic devices and sleep quality among adolescents in the United Arab Emirates.

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Aims: This study investigated stress levels and coping strategies among working and nonworking women in the United Arab Emirates.

Background: Stress levels in working and nonworking women have previously been studied, but few studies used cortisol to measure stress or examined how coping strategies affect stress levels.

Methods: We employed a cross-sectional design with a convenience sample of women aged 20-65 years.

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Objectives: Assess and describe the health service use and delivery patterns for non-communicable disease (NCD) services in two contrasting fragility contexts and by other principal equity-related characteristics including gender, nationality and health coverage.

Setting: Primary healthcare centres located in the urbanised area of Greater Beirut and the rural area of the Beqaa Valley.

Design: This is a cross-sectional study using a structured survey tool between January and September 2020.

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The temporal relationship between work-life balance/imbalance, occupational burnout, and poor mental health outcomes have been widely explored. Little has been forthcoming on cognitive functioning among those with work-life imbalance. This study aimed to explore the rate of work-life imbalance and the variation in neuropsychological functioning.

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Background: Community pharmacists are among the most accessible healthcare professionals and are likely to experience the full brunt of public health crises. In Lebanon, the COVID-19 pandemic, added to a severe economic meltdown, have significantly disrupted an already suffering profession.

Methods: The objective of this study was to determine the level of resilience and its relationship to burnout, job satisfaction, intention to quit, and changes in practice.

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Purpose: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlighted the necessity of practicing Evidence-based Management (EBMgt) as an approach to decision-making in hospital settings. The literature, however, provides limited insight into the process of EBMgt and its contextual nuances. Such insight is critical for better leveraging EBMgt in practice.

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Background: The COVID-19 pandemic compounded political and financial pressures on the nursing workforce in Lebanon. The government resigned in October 2019 in response to the popular uprising that called for an end to corruption and economic mismanagement 5 months before the first COVID-19 case appeared in the country. The continuing crises and the added stress of COVID-19 has increased the risk of occupational burnout and turnover in the nursing workforce.

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