Marital Status Of Patients Research Articles

Demographic and comorbid factors associated with the development of medication overuse headache

Objective: to conduct a comparative analysis of factors associated with the development of medication overuse headache (MOH), considering demographic characteristics of patients and comorbid pathology.Material and methods. A prospective study was conducted at "Europe–Asia" International Medical Center. The main group comprised patients with primary headache (HA) aged 18 years and older with MOH, and the control group comprised patients with primary HA without MOH of comparable gender and age. A semi-structured interview was conducted with the patients and additional examinations were performed, including MRI of the brain if indicated. The study included 171 patients with MOH (mean age 43.3 years, 82% women) and 173 patients without MOH (mean age 41.4 years, 75% women).Results. Chronic migraine occurred more frequently in the MOH group (53 and 16%, respectively; p<0.001; OR 5.9; 95% CI 3.6–9.8). One third of patients in both groups suffered from chronic tension-type headache (CTH). Episodic migraine and episodic CTH occurred more frequently in patients without MOH (p<0.001). Patients in the MOH group were more frequently divorced (11.7 and 2.9%, respectively; p=0.002; OR 4.5; 95% CI 1.6–12.2). The majority of patients (76%) in both groups were employed, had a higher education (65% with MOH and 74% without MOH) and were married (63% with MOH and 72% without MOH).The analysis of more than 20 comorbid diseases revealed that three factors were most frequently associated with the development of MOH: chronic insomnia (60.2 and 47.4% respectively; p=0.02; OR 1.7; 95% CI 1.1–2.6), restless legs syndrome (37.4 and 22% respectively; p=0.002; OR 2.1; 95% CI 1.3–3.4) and subjective cognitive impairment (76 and 53.2% respectively; p<0.001; OR 2.8; 95% CI 1.8–4.8).Conclusion. Sleep disturbance, subjective cognitive impairment and marital status of patients are most frequently associated with MOH, indicating the great importance of these factors in the development of MOH and opening new opportunities for its prevention.

Investigation on marital status of patients with neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders in China

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD) may have a great impact on patients' marriage, and marital status may also affect patients' compliance and prognosis. We investigated the marital status of 494 NMOSD patients in China to explore the mutual influence between them. A cross-sectional survey was conducted by the online questionnaires or telephone follow-up. Basic information of all respondents was analyzed from NMOSD-database of West China hospital. All 444 married respondents finished self-assessment of NMOSD's effect on marriage and over 80% of them accepted Marital Cumulative Damage Score (MCDS). The proportion of unmarried male patients is higher than female (23.1% vs. 9.0%), especially in youth stage (44.0% vs. 20.2%). However, the females reported bigger impacts on their marriage among married NMOSD patients (97.5% vs. 70.7%). Compared to married patients, divorced patients costed more in hospital every time (29,857.1 CNY vs. 15,577.2 CNY), received longer education (12.75 years vs. 9.36 years), had longer duration of disease (117.16vs. 93.62 months), more relapses (5.50vs. 3.73) and higher EDSS score (3.58vs. 2.59). EDSS scores are associated with MCDS (R2=0.267, P<0.0001), and divorced patients have higher MCDS (P<0.01). Decreased group activities (84.1%), declined working ability (73.7%) and alienation from friends (72.54%) are the first three factors in MCDS. NMOSD exerts cumulative damage for patients' marriage, and the progression of NMOSD is more likely to lead to marital breakdown. Healthy marriage may improve the prognosis of patients by providing the psychological support and improving treatment compliance.

Development and validation of a nomogram model for cancer-specific survival of patients with poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma: A SEER database analysis.

BackgroundThis study aimed to establish and validate an accurate prognostic model, based on demographic and clinical parameters, for predicting the cancer-specific survival (CSS) of patients with poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma (PDTC).Materials and methodsPatients diagnosed with PDTC between 2004 to 2015 were obtained from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. Randomly split the data into training and validation sets. Kaplan–Meier analysis with the log-rank test was performed to compare the survival distribution among cases. Univariate and multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression analyses were used to identify independent prognostic factors, which were subsequently utilized to construct a nomogram for predicting the 5- and 10-year cancer-specific survival of patients with PDTC. The discriminative ability and calibration of the nomogram model were assessed using the concordance index and calibration plots, respectively. In addition, we performed a decision curve analysis to assess the clinical value of the nomogram. Simultaneously, we compared the predictive performance of the nomogram model against that of the American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) T-, N-, M-stage.ResultsA total of 970 eligible patients were randomly assigned to either a training cohort (n = 679) or a validation cohort (n = 291). The Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that there were no significant differences in cumulative survival based on the race, radiation, and marital status of patients. The stepwise Cox regression model showed that the model was optimal when the following five variables were included: age, tumor size, T-, N-, and M-stage. A nomogram was developed as a graphical representation of the model and exhibited good calibration and discriminative ability in the study. Compared to the T-, N-, and M-stage, the C-index of nomogram (training group: 0.807, validation group: 0.802), the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the training set (5-year AUC: 0.843, 10-year AUC:0.834) and the validation set (5-year AUC:0.878, 10-year AUC:0.811), and the calibration plots of this model all exhibited better performance. At last, compared with T-, N-, and M-stage, the decision curve analysis indicated that the nomogram had excellent clinical net benefit.ConclusionsThe nomogram developed by us can accurately predict the CSS of PDTC patients. It can help clinicians determine appropriate treatment strategies for poorly differentiated thyroid carcinoma patients.

Perspectives of Psychosocial Risk Factors in Cardiovascular Disease

Introduction: The acknowledgment that psychosocial risk factors contribute to the pathogenesis of cardiovascular malady has driven to the improvement of a new field of behavioral cardiology. The starting driving force for this field was considers performed within the 1980s and 1990s that given epidemiological prove and a pathophysiological premise for a solid connect between a number of psychosocial chance components and cardiovascular illness, counting misery, uneasiness, threatening vibe, work stretch, and destitute social support. In later a long time, extra psychosocial hazard components have been recognized, counting negativity; other shapes of chronic stress, such as childhood abuse and injury, and the mental stretch that will be related with constant medical ailment; need of life reason; and the disorder of “vital exhaustion,” which comprises of a set of three of fatigue, demoralization, and crabbiness. Objective: To determine the Perspectives of Psychosocial Risk factors in Cardiovascular Disease Material and Methods Study design: Quantitative cross sectional Settings: Niazi welfare foundation teaching hospital Sargodha Duration: Three months i.e. 1st January 2022 to 30th March 2022 Data Collection procedure: Cross sectional was conducted on 100 patients. Data was collected by validated questionnaire. The informed consent was taken from all the patients having cardiovascular disease included in the study. Each patient demographic profile was recorded. Psychosocial risk factors included wealth and personal life style stress was calculated. Validated questionnaire was administered to check the stress at home and at work. Data was analyzed by using SPSS version 22. Results: The total number of patients was 110 in which 92 were males and 50 females. According to age 10 patients was in 30-40 age group, 52 was in 41-50, 40 was in 51-60 and 8 was above 60 year of age. The different level of stress as low moderate and high was calculated against Educational, Area and Marital status of patients. Conclusion: Physical and psychosocial chance components at work may act freely to extend dangers or they may too associated to encourage increase the dangers of self-detailed back disorders. There is critical need of developing measuring tool for assessing psychosocial stress level. Keywords: Stress, Psychosocial factor, Behavioral Cardiology, Cardiovascular disease.

Anxiety and Depression Among Breast Cancer Patients in A Tertiary Hospital in Ghana

Background: Breast cancer is the second most common cancer globally and the most frequent cancer among women. It is associated with significant psychological morbidity including anxiety and depression. The extent of this burden has however not been documented in the Ghanaian setting. This study aimed at determining the prevalence of anxiety and depression amongst patients with breast cancer at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH).Design and Subjects: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 120 breast cancer patients using a structured questionnaire to obtain socio-demographic characteristics of patients. The hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS) was used to assess fordepression and anxiety in these patients. Results: The overall prevalence of depression was 84.2%, while that for anxiety was 92.5%. Forty-four percent of the study participants had both anxiety and depression. There was no significant difference in depression (p=0.796) and anxiety (p=0.999) prevalencebetween post-menopausal (82.9% and 92.1% respectively) and pre-menopausal (86.4% and 93.2% respectively) patients. A significant difference in prevalence of depression alone (p=0.033) and depression in combination with anxiety (0.025) was found between those living with their partners and those living without their partners. Average monthly income was found to be significantly associated withanxiety alone (p=0.014) as well as anxiety and depression combination (p=0.032) but not with depression alone (p=0.101).Conclusion: The prevalence of anxiety and depression are quite high among breast cancer patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. Anxiety was significantly associated with the average monthly income while depression was associated with the marital status ofpatients. The high prevalence of both anxiety and depression among breast cancer patients makes it imperative for psychotherapy to be incorporated as an integral part of the management of breast cancer patients for the entire duration of the illness but moreespecially during the period immediately following diagnosis

Females treated for syphilis in Bialystok, Poland 2016-2020.

Syphilis is the third most frequent bacterial sexually transmitted disease globally. Untreated syphilis in a pregnant woman may results in a transmission of the infection to the foetus resulting in congenital syphilis. To characterise females treated for syphilis in Bialystok, north-east Poland, in years 2016-2020. Retrospective analysis of age, residency, marital status of patients, stage of syphilis, treatment and adherence to follow-up visits was conducted as well as a detailed analysis of clinical characteristics of pregnant women treated for syphilis. Sixteen women were treated for syphilis in 2016-2020, 11 (68.8%) of them were pregnant. The proportion of pregnant women among all syphilis female patients increased substantially as compared to years 2000-2015 (68.8% vs. 36.2%, respectively, P<0.05). Mean age of patients was 37.12±11.25 years, 10 (62.5%) were residents of urban areas and 10 were married. Late latent syphilis or latent of unknown duration was the most frequent stage of syphilis. Chlamydia trachomatis infection was detected in four (25%) patients with syphilis. Benzathine penicillin was mainly used in the treatment. More than half of patients did not complete follow-up. Only one pregnant woman was treated within the first trimester and five of them (45.45%) were lost to follow-up and the outcome of pregnancy was unknown. Syphilis in females, especially in pregnant ones, is an important problem in the Podlaskie voivodeship. The proportion of pregnant females among all female patients with syphilis is increasing. The detection and the treatment of infection is frequently delayed in pregnant females. The after treatment followup and the knowledge of outcome of pregnancy remains unsatisfactory. The collaboration between dermatovenereologists, gynaecologists and obstetricians should be improved.

Effectiveness of Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy (HAART) in the Adult Population in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

AIDS is the late stage of infection with the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Even though the Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART) for the management of HIV/ AIDS has been in existence in Ghana since 2003, there is still limited data on their effectiveness. This study therefore sort to ascertain the effectiveness of HAART used at Anti-retroviral therapy (ART) Centres in the Ashanti region of Ghana by assessing its effects on immunological and haematological markers as well as some significant indicators such as body temperature and blood pressure changes. The study was a retrospective cross sectional study which reviewed medical record folders of 156 HIV infected patients who had attended the selected ART centres in the Ashanti region of Ghana between 2010 and 2014. About 49% of the study population had a significant rise in their CD4 counts after six months strict adherence to specific HAART regimen. HAART effectively reduced viral loads and increased CD4 counts in most of the patients whose medical record folders were reviewed. Socioeconomic factors, formal education and lack of health literacy had a significant effect on adherence to the HAART regimen, however; marital status of patients did not have any significant effect on adherence, CD4 counts and the haemoglobin concentration of patients. Based on results obtained from this study, HAART could be considered as effective in the adult population in the Ashanti region of Ghana provided there is a high level of adherence. Immunological and haematological markers for the assessment of effectiveness could also improve with high adherence recommended HAART regimen

Psychosomatic aspects of psoriasis (review)

The review reflects the increased scientific interest in the psychosomatic aspects of psoriasis in the world literature in recent years. The studied material of the articles is structured according to the principles of the modern clinical psychosomatic approach. The introduction substantiates the relevance of studying this topic. The article considers the stress manifestations/examinations of psoriasis under the influence of psychosocial acute and chronic stress, including under the action of the COVID-19 pandemic; the quality of life and stigmatization of patients with psoriasis. The driving factors leading to the formation of nosogenic psychosomatic disorders are identified: common disfiguring rashes, itching, recurrent course, the threat of disability, social restrictions, constitutional premorbid features of patients. The description of comorbid mental disorders of the anxiety and affective range with a discussion of suicidal risk is presented. A separate section of the review is devoted to itching, as one of the most discussed aspects of psoriasis in the modern literature. Different points of view on the psycho-biological structure of itching in psoriasis are presented. Various factors related to the intensity, objective and subjective perception of itching are considered. Among them are the clinical form and severity of psoriasis, the localization and prevalence of rashes, gender, age, level of education, marital status of patients, concomitant somatic and mental diseases.

Public Awareness about Medicine Information, Safety, and Adverse Drug Reaction (ADR) Reporting in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.

This study aimed to assess public knowledge about medicine information, safety, and adverse drug reaction reporting (ADR) in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. A cross sectional study was conducted using purposive stratified sampling in different settings of Dammam city for three months (January–March 2020). The target population was identified as consumers who had used the medicines in the last 3 months. The questionnaire was adopted from the literature and was validated. Content and face validities were established, and reliability was assessed. The study was approved by the concerned ethics committee. A total of 915 participants returned completed questionnaires. A total of 54.4% participants aged between 18 and 30 years, 65.8% were females and 53.1% had obtained bachelor level education. The mean score for knowledge of medicines (K1) was 5.46 ± 1.07. The mean score for knowledge regarding medication safety (K2) was 5.94 ± 1.73. The mean score for tendency to report a suspected ADR (T1) was 3.43 ± 1.57. Gender was a determinant of knowledge regarding medication safety (K2) (p < 0.01) and ADR reporting tendency (T1) (p < 0.01). The marital status of patients was a determinant for both knowledge of medicines (K1) (p < 0.01) and, knowledge regarding medication safety (K2) (p < 0.01). The results of this study highlighted that although the scores for knowledge of medicines, and tendency to report ADR were better, the score for knowledge regarding medication safety was unsatisfactory.

Comparative Study of the Efficacy of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy and Sertraline in Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Introduction: Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most critical issues of global health organizations. The aim of study was comparison of the efficacy of cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and Sertraline with Sertraline alone in general anxiety disorder.Material and Methods: This randomized clinical trial study was performed randomly among patients referring to the specialty psychiatric clinic of Imam Sajjad Hospital, Ramsar. Group 1 received cognitive-behavioral sessions in combination with Sertraline and Group 2, received only drug (starting at a daily dose of 25 mg and after the one-week dose was increased to 50 mg, and then, according to the patient's examination and response, the treatment gradually increased to 150 mg daily). Patients were assessed with Beck Anxiety Questionnaire before and after the end of treatment. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 22.Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups treated with Sertraline + CBT and Sertraline alone in terms of gender, marital status, socio-economic status, educational status, occupational status, and degree of anxiety before and after the study (P &lt; 0.05). In Sertraline + CBT group, there was no significant relationship between gender and educational level, job status, socio-economic status and marital status of patients with severity of anxiety after treatment (P &lt; 0.05).Conclusion: From the results of this study, it can be concluded that treatment of Sertraline + CBT with Sertraline alone would not result in a further reduction in the anxiety score and degree of anxiety in patients, and this treatment was not related to gender, marital status, socio-economic status, and the degree of patients.

The validity and reliability of the Turkish version of the Seattle Angina Questionnaire.

The purpose of this study was to assess the validity and reliability of a Turkish version of the Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ) in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and angina. The SAQ was translated from English to Turkish using the back-translation method. It contains 19 questions scored from 1 to either 5 or 6 in 5 domains (physical limitation, angina stability, angina frequency, disease perception, and treatment satisfaction). Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate internal consistency. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was calculated to assess the construct validity. Convergent validity was examined using correlations between the SAQ and the MacNew Heart Disease Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire (MacNew) and the Nottingham Health Profile. Divergent validity was evaluated using correlations between the SAQ and age, body mass index (BMI), gender, and the marital status of patients. A value of p<0.05 was considered statistically significant. Sixty-seven patients were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the study patients was 58.7 years (SD: 10.2). Cronbach's alpha scores of the SAQ, ranging in value from 0.715 to 0.910, demonstrated that this scale is reliable. All of the SAQ scales had a significant correlation with all of the MacNew scales, which indicated that the scale has convergent validity. Insignificant correlations with age, BMI, gender, and marital status illustrated the good divergent validity of the scale. The Turkish version of the SAQ is a valid and reliable instrument. It is a useful and practical tool to evaluate patients with angina and CHD.

TEMPOROMANDİBULAR EKLEM HASTALIKLARINDA MEDENİ HAL DURUMU

Amaç: TME rahatsızlığı tespit edilen hastalara ait, medeni halleriyle ilgili bilgiler toplanmış ve gruplama yapılmıştır.

Emotion recognition and its connection to the marital status of patients with bipolar affective disorder

Emotion recognition and its connection to the marital status of patients with bipolar affective disorder

Demographic and Survivorship Disparities in Non-muscle-invasive Bladder Cancer in the United States.

ObjectivesTo examine survivorship disparities in demographic factors and risk status for non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), which accounts for more than 75% of all urinary bladder cancers, but is highly curable with early identification and treatment.MethodsWe used the US National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results registries over a 19-year period (1988-2006) to examine survivorship disparities in age, sex, race/ethnicity, and marital status of patients and risk status classified by histologic grade, stage, size of tumor, and number of multiple primary tumors among NMIBC patients (n=29 326). We applied Kaplan-Meier (K-M) and Cox proportional hazard methods for survival analysis.ResultsAmong all urinary bladder cancer patients, the majority of NMIBCs were in male (74.1%), non-Latino white (86.7%), married (67.8%), and low-risk (37.6%) to intermediate-risk (44.8%) patients. The mean age was 68 years. Survivorship (in median life years) was highest for non-Latino white (5.4 years), married (5.4 years), and low-risk (5.7 years) patients (K-M analysis, p<0.001). We found significantly lower survivorship for elderly, male (female hazard ratio [HR], 0.96), Latino (HR, 1.20), and unmarried (married HR, 0.93) patients.ConclusionsSurvivorship disparities were ubiquitous across age, sex, race/ethnicity, and marital status groups. Non-white, unmarried, and elderly patients had significantly shorter survivorship. The implications of these findings include the need for a heightened focus on health policy and more organized efforts to improve access to care in order to increase the chances of survival for all patients.

Clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes in Paget disease: a SEER population-based study.

The objective of this study was to investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes of Paget disease (PD), Paget disease concomitant infiltrating duct carcinoma (PD‐IDC), and Paget disease concomitant intraductal carcinoma (PD‐DCIS). We identified 501,631 female patients from 2000 to 2013 in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database. These identified patients included patients with PD (n = 469), patients with PD‐IDC (n = 1832), and patients with PD‐DCIS (n = 1130) and infiltrating ductal carcinoma (IDC) (n = 498,076). Then, we compared the clinical characteristics of these patients with those who were diagnosed with IDC during the same period. The outcomes of these subtypes of breast carcinoma were different. Based on the overall survival, the patients with PD‐IDC had the worst prognosis (5‐year survival rate = 84.1%). The PD‐DCIS had the best prognosis (5‐year survival rate = 97.5%). Besides, among patients with Paget disease, the one who was married had a better prognosis than who were not. And, according to our research, the marital status was associated with the hormone receptor status in patients with PD‐IDC. Among three subtypes of Paget disease, patients with PD‐IDC had the worst prognosis. Besides, patients who were unmarried had worse outcomes. And the marital status of patients with PD‐IDC is associated with hormone status. The observation underscores the importance of individualized treatment.

Acceptance of disease and lifestyle modification after diagnosis among young adults with epilepsy.

AimAssessment of factors affecting the degree of illness acceptance in patients with epilepsy and determination of whether the diagnosis of epilepsy influenced the functioning of this population group.Materials and methodsThe Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) and authors’ own questionnaire were used in this study. The study included 264 patients with epilepsy aged 20–40 years. The study was carried out during the period from June 2015 to June 2016. Participants were recruited through multiple channels, including online websites, a forum for people suffering from epilepsy, and from a neurological outpatient clinic in Warsaw.ResultsThe mean value for overall rates of illness acceptance for all patients was 25.05±5.23, which indicated a mean level of illness acceptance of the patients. A significant correlation was observed between the results on AIS and the marital status of patients (P=0.04541). However, statistical analysis did not support the significant association between the illness acceptance and other socio-demographic factors and clinical aspects (P>0.05 in all cases). An analysis of the correlation between the level of illness acceptance and taking life decisions by the patients showed that the only statistically significant difference was the influence of an illness on the decision about marriage (P=0.032383).ConclusionThe problem of illness acceptance is often addressed in scientific research. It seems to be difficult to attain the state of full illness acceptance, especially in a situation when a number of changes have to be made in a patient’s current life and everyday functioning. It can be argued that illness acceptance has a positive meaning because it entails benefits resulting from better mental and physical comfort of a patient. The time needed for the attainment of full illness acceptance is individual for every patient and also depends on many factors.

P.042 Associations of pain and depression with marital status in patients diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease

Background: Depression and pain are significant clinical problems that are comorbid with Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, the relationship of these variables with the marital status of patients with PD has not been explored in previous studies. The goal of this study was to assess the possible relationship between depression prevalence, depression severity, and pain interference with the marital status of the sufferers of PD. Methods: This study included 40 patients and 40 healthy control participants who were assessed for depression prevalence and pain interference using The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Brief Pain Inventory, respectively. Results: When compared to the control groups, the PD (Single) group was found to have the highest prevalence of depression, followed by the PD (Married) group whereas the Control (Single) group was found to have a higher prevalence than the Control (Married) group (P&lt;0.0001). A main effect was found on depression severity (P&lt;0.0001), but no significant differences were observed between the PD groups. Lastly, PD (Single) patients had significantly greater pain interference scores than the PD (Married) patients (P&lt;0.05) with no other significant case-control or control-control group differences. Conclusions: Patient-spouse relationship may have a mitigating effect on patient outcomes of depression prevalence and pain interference.

Public awareness, knowledge, and practice relating to epilepsy among adults in Konya.

This study aimed to determine the familiarity with, knowledge of, misunderstandings, and attitudes toward epilepsy among a group of Turkish adults living in Konya, an urban city in central Turkey. By using an established familiarity-knowledge-attitudes practice questionnaire, 500 randomly selected adult residents of Konya were interviewed face-to-face. Demographic and sociocultural factors that predicted negative attitudes were determined. More than half of all participants (68.4%) reported hearing or reading about epilepsy, 44% knew someone with epilepsy, and 42.2% had witnessed a seizure. The primary source of knowledge was via relatives and friends; Negative attitudes were about marriage and inability to live alone with epilepsy (63.2% objected to marriage and 84% objected to living alone). A preconception of epilepsy being a dangerous and lifelong disease was the primary reason for negative attitudes. Predictors of negative attitudes were female gender, lower educational status, and living in a rural area. Negative attitudes regarding the marital status of patients with epilepsy still exist. These may stem from misconceptions about the cause and treatability of epilepsy.

Oral Health Literacy: How much Italian people know about the dental hygienist.

BackgroundPeople with poor OHL have the highest level of oral diseases and the worst oral treatment results. The main aim of the present study was to investigate the degree of knowledge of the role of the dental hygienist in patients who go to a public dental facility for the first time.Material and MethodsA semi-structured questionnaire was administered to the patients with the “face-to-face” mode during a 12-month period. The principal component analysis, the general linear model and the chi-square test were used for the statistical analysis.ResultsA total number of 900 questionnaires were completed. Sixty-seven per cent of patients know that a specific degree is needed to practice dentistry and 93.1% of them know that a specific educational qualification is required to practice the dental hygienist profession. Sixty-three per cent of the subjects were aware of dental hygienist’s activities. There is no patient preference of gender as far as both dentist (84.11%) and dental hygienist (85.11%) are concerned. Seventy-five per cent of patients claimed to know what “dental hygiene” means and 65% of them believed that a good level of oral hygiene was important for oral disease prevention. Both qualification and marital status of patients are significantly associated with the patient’s level of knowledge of the dental hygienist profession. Patients with “High” scholastic qualifications showed significantly higher scores than those with “Low” qualifications. Married patients have less knowledge than widows/widowers, while divorced patients have greater knowledge than widows/widowers.ConclusionsPatients’ educational qualification itself only partially justifies the apparent high level of knowledge of patients about the dental hygienist’s role. Key words:Oral disease prevention, dental professional qualification, public dental knowledge, patient educational qualification, dental hygienist, oral heath literacy, public dental facility.

Associations of pain and depression with marital status in patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Depression and pain are significant clinical problems that are comorbid with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the relationship of these variables with the marital status of patients with PD has not been explored in previous studies. Therefore, the goal of this study was to assess the possible relationship between depression prevalence, depression severity, and pain interference with the marital status of the sufferers of PD. This study included 40 patients and 40 healthy control participants who were assessed for depression prevalence and severity using The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The same individuals were also assessed for pain interference using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). When compared to the control groups, the PD (Single) group was found to have the highest prevalence of depression, followed by the PD (Married) group whereas the Control (Single) group was found to have a higher prevalence than the Control (Married) group (P < 0.0001). A main effect was found on depression severity (P < 0.0001), but no significant differences were observed between the PD groups. Lastly, PD (Single) patients had significantly greater pain interference scores than the PD (Married) patients (P < 0.05) with no other significant case-control or control-control group differences. Patient-spouse relationship, which indicates physical and emotional support may have a mitigating effect on patient outcomes of depression prevalence and pain interference.