Publications by authors named "Samya Alabdulla"

Background: Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) are a significant global health burden, including in Qatar, where cardiovascular diseases cause mortality. This study examines the outcomes of the annual health checkup implemented by the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) in Qatar in detecting NCDs risk factors among Qataris aged 18+ years.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was implemented to calculate the prevalence of behavioural and metabolic NCDs risk factors among Qataris who underwent annual health checkups between 2017 and 2019.

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Article Synopsis
  • Colorectal cancer is widespread globally, with reduced mortality linked to screening; Qatar launched a national screening program in 2016.
  • Fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) was used for individuals aged 50-74, leading to colonoscopies for those who tested positive.
  • Out of 32,751 invitees, 11,130 participated, with 6% testing positive; colonoscopies revealed significant adenoma and cancer detection rates, supporting the need for ongoing, organized screening efforts.
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Aims: To assess the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus attending family medicine clinics in Qatar.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to April 2021 where 683 adult patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus were selected by cluster sampling technique using probability-proportionate to size sampling. Diabetes mellitus was defined as having HA1c of greater than or equal to 6.

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Background: In the public sector in Qatar, the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is the major provider of primary healthcare services to families. Therefore, the PHCC conducted the first epidemiological health assessment to understand the burden of diseases and their subsequent risk factors impacting its registered population, to design better services, implement it and allocate resources to respond to the population health needs.

Methods: A cross-sectional study design was adopted among all PHCC registered populations between September 1, 2018, and August 31, 2019.

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Primary care is geared to manage patients with mild to moderate presentations of common mental disorders and to refer patients with more severe mental disorders to specialist mental health services. With growing demand for specialty care, the quality of the referral is increasingly important to ensure efficient patient flow across the primary/secondary care interface and appropriate use of secondary services. We report on an initiative in a Qatari mental health clinic to improve the quality of referrals from primary care to specialist mental health services through an educational intervention for family physicians.

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Background: Primary healthcare (PHC) setting is regarded as a central pillar to the healthcare system as it tends to be the first point of contact for patients. Interprofessional collaboration between healthcare professionals (HCP) in PHC settings remains unexplored in the Middle East.

Aim: The objective of this study was to explore the perspectives of HCP in PHC centers towards interprofessional collaboration and to identify the facilitators and the barriers to collaborative practice.

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Background: Type 2 diabetes is affecting people at an increasingly younger age, particularly in the Middle East and in north Africa. We aimed to assess whether an intensive lifestyle intervention would lead to significant weight loss and improved glycaemia in young individuals with early diabetes.

Methods: This open-label, parallel-group, randomised controlled trial (DIADEM-I), done in primary care and community settings in Qatar, compared the effects of an intensive lifestyle intervention with usual medical care on weight loss and glycaemic outcomes in individuals with type 2 diabetes, aged 18-50 years, with a short diabetes duration (≤3 years), had a BMI of 27·0 kg/m or more, and who were from the Middle East and north Africa region.

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Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is not well-studied in Arab populations. The goal of this study was to validate the Arabic version of the Premenstrual Symptoms Screening Tool (PSST) using the DSM diagnosis of PMDD as the gold standard. The PSST was translated and culturally adapted using back translation and the approval of the original author.

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Purpose: To develop an in-depth understanding of the barriers to medication adherence among patients with uncontrolled diabetes attending primary health care (PHC) centers in Qatar by exploring and integrating patients' and health care providers' perspectives.

Participants And Methods: A descriptive qualitative methodology was used in this study. A trained researcher conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews at two PHC centers.

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This study aimed to assess perceived medication-related burden among patients with multiple non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to investigate the association between perceived burden and adherence to medication therapy. Using a cross-sectional study in three primary care clinics in Qatar, medication-related burden was measured using the Living with Medicines Questionnaire (LMQ) among adults with diabetes, with or without other comorbidities. Adherence was measured using the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS).

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Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and obesity are syndemic and will have a significant impact on affected individuals and healthcare services worldwide. Evidence shows that T2DM remission can be achieved with significant weight loss in those who are younger with early diabetes and requiring fewer medications for glycaemic control. DIADEM-I aims to examine the impact of an intensive lifestyle intervention (ILI) using a low-energy diet (LED) meal replacement approach combined with physical activity in younger individuals with early T2DM.

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