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In this issue
a number of papers from the region discussed important
aspect of ageing in the area.
In a paper from Bahrain the author discussed the Ageing
And Pattern of Population Changes in The Developing
Countries. He stressed the fact that ageing is not a
disease. It is a natural phenomenon that all species
go through. Although, it continues to be not very well
understood it is the process that transforms a salubrious
person to a frail one, with decline in the efficiency
of most of the body organs. The number of old people
worldwide is on the rise and according to WHO, "between
2000 and 2050, the proportion of the world's population
over 60 years will double from about 11% to 22%, reaching
an absolute number to over 3 billion in the same period".
However, such increase will be seen more and faster
in the developing than the developed countries despite
the less dollars and the cost implications on the health
and social services to be provided is high. The author
highlighted and discussed in particular to the elderly
percentage of the total population and the forecast.
It discussed issues related health deterioration and
disabilities as people tend to age and the health needs
of this sector of the population with its cost implications.
A paper from Jordan looked at
team assessment and planning of care in vascular dementia.
The aim is to bring awareness to the members of the
public around the globe about the dangers of dementia
disease, importance of caring and team work to help
the affected people in the locality. The paper includes
a brief outline of the disease, its types, symptoms,
causes, effects, diagnosis treatment and the affected
people ratio in the globe. It also provides advice on
the risk factors of affected individuals, to help deal
with the disease. A case study on the disease, diagnosis
and effects are provided to help understand the disease.
A paper from Egypt examined
the relationship between vitamin D status and basic
functional mobility in ambulatory elderly. The author
follow a cross sectional study was conducted on 100
elderly patients aged > 60 years. Participants
were recruited from Geriatric primary health care clinic
at Ain Shams University hospital, cairo, Egypt. All
participants underwent comprehensive geriatric assessment
, physical performance assessment using timed up and
go (TUG) test and Gait speed test at four meters, also
had Serum levels of vitamin D (25OHD) measured by Enzyme-
Linked Immunosorbent Assay method . Of 100 subjects,
52% showed vitamin D insufficiency, 16% were vitamin
D deficient and 32% had normal vitamin D levels. Regarding
physical performance 64% of subjects had elevated TUG
test (as defined by the cut off value 14 seconds), 56%
of subjects scored a gait speed < 0.6 m/s. Physical
performance was significantly related to vitamin D deficiency
when measured by gait speed test but not TUG test. The
authors concluded that vitamin D insufficiency is prevalent
among ambulatory elderly and vitamin D status is strongly
associated with basic functional mobility when measured
by gait speed test.
A pre-post cohort study
of seventy 6th year(first clinical year) medical students
from Sultanate Oman evaluated the attitudes, knowledge
and perception of medical students about elderly patients
before and after implementation of a new geriatrics
curriculum and to assess perceived attainment of objectives
in geriatric module. Questionnaire were provided prior
and post geriatric assessment. Utilization of common
geriatric tools was taught in a tutorial and then reinforced
in small group (case based) discussions. A total of
70 students were participated in the study. The mean
scale score for students basic understanding of geriatrics
was significantly higher after completion of education
program compared with scores prior to training (p <
0.001, 95% CI: 3.01-4.87) with an increase of 3.943
in the mean scale score. The authors concluded that
medical students who received education during their
module showed improvement in levels of knowledge about
geriatrics.
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