Explaining the increase in coronary heart disease mortality in Syria between 1996 and 2006.

Background: Despite advances made in treating coronary heart disease (CHD), mortality due to CHD in Syria has been increasing for the past two decades. This study aims to assess CHD mortality trends in Syria between 1996 and 2006 and to investigate the main factors associated with them.

Methods: The IMPACT model was used to analyze CHD mortality trends in Syria based on numbers of CHD patients, utilization of specific treatments, trends in major cardiovascular risk factors in apparently healthy persons and CHD patients.

Self-rated health and its determinants among adults in Syria: a model from the Middle East.

Background: Self-rated health (SRH) has been widely used to research health inequalities in developed western societies, but few such studies are available in developing countries. Similar to many Arab societies, little research has been conducted in Syria on the health status of its citizens, particularly in regards to SRH. This Study aims to investigate and compare determinants of SRH in adult men and women in Aleppo, Syria.

Smoking among adults in Syria: proxy reporting by 13-14 year olds.

Despite active epidemiological research related to smoking in Syria in the past few years, there is currently no population-based prevalence data for adult smoking in this country. This study presents the first such figures based on information about the smoking habits of 3066 couples in Aleppo, Syria collected during a survey on respiratory morbidity among 13-14-year-old youths. Reports from the young people indicated levels of parental smoking to be 54% for men and 18% for women.