Background: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a progressive airflow limitation that is preventable but not curable. It is associated with persistent symptoms that cause a considerable burden on individual productivity at work, and daily activities, and reduced quality of life, also burdening the healthcare system and society. Objectives: The study aims to measure the burden of COPD on patients in terms of daily activities and work productivity. It also seeks to investigate some inflammatory biomarkers' levels and their correlation with selected outcomes. Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional study on 120 stable COPD patients who were diagnosed and treated according to the GOLD guidelines at Kirkuk General Hospital's chest and Internal Medicine consultation clinics, and in private internist clinics in Kirkuk City, Iraq between January and April 2023. The Work Productivity and Activity Impairment Questionnaire (WPAI-COPD) measured the Burden of COPD. The symptom burden was assessed by the COPD assessment test (CAT). The level of IL-6 monoclonal antibodies was measured via a Roche Cobas 6000 analyzer and TNF-α using the ELISA sandwich technique. All these devices and machines were authorized by the Ministry of Health, Iraq. Results: The mean age was (54.1 ± 8.12) years, 62.5% being males and 37.5% being females; 41.7% were public sector employees, and 39.2% were self-employed. Due to COPD, the overall work loss was (45.9±18.91) days, the mean percentage of absenteeism was (10.9% ± 12.31%), activity impairment was (47.5% ±17.79%) among all patients, presenteeism was (40.8 ± 15.05%,) and COPD-related retirees were 14.2% of the study group. The mean CAT score (19.3±5.63) was high and the most troubling symptom among patients was chest tightness. WPAI-COPD scores were higher in older age and longer disease duration. The levels of biomarkers were above the reference ranges, the mean IL-6 level was (69.4 ± 35.29) pg/ml, and the mean TNF-α was (72.3 ± 22.45) pg/ ml. Conclusions: COPD patients exhibit a disease burden in terms of productivity loss at work and activity impairment that increases with aging and disease duration. COPD patients with low BMI are more prone to a decline in lung functions and to worse symptoms.
الاستثمار الاجنبي المباشر في العراق ودوره في تحقيق التنمية الاقتصادية
This study aimed to clarify the importance of ecological taxation in achieving sustainable development, by analyzing a set of economic measures such as taxes, taxes levied by the legislation in the field of ecology, to fight against pollution. And we tried to evaluate this initiative in Algeria. The results of the study showed that economic measures of ecological taxation contribute to achieving sustainable development, and Although Algeria has adopted a series of ecological tax mechanisms, it is far from keeping pace with developments in this area.
Abstract: This research aims to investigate and analyze the most pressing issues facing the Iraqi economy, namely economic stability and inclusive growth Consequently, the present study investigates the effect of inflation and unemployment, which are significant contributors to economic instability, on inclusive growth dimensions such as GDP, education, health, governance, poverty, income inequality, and environmental performance. From 1991 to 2021, secondary data were collected using World Bank Indicators (WDI) and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) databases. The researchers also employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model to determine the relationship between variables. The study revealed that fluct
... Show MoreThe effects of three different additives formulations namely Lubrizol 21001, HiTEC 8722B and HiTEC 340 on the efficiency of VII namely OCP of three base lubricating oils namely 40 stock and 60 stock and 150 stock at four temperatures 40, 60, 80 and 100oC were investigated. The efficiency of OCP is decreased when blended with 4 and 8 wt% of Lubrizol 21001 for all the three base oil types. But it is increased when adding 4 wt% and 8 wt% of H-8722B in 40 stock. While for 60 stock and 150 stock the OCP efficiency decreased by adding 4 and 8 wt% of H-8722B. In the other hand, it is decreased with a high percentage by adding 4 and 8 wt% of H-340 for 60 stock and 150 stock and for 40 stock it is increased by adding 4 wt% of H-340 and decreased
... Show MoreThe Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is commonly used as a measure of land surface greenness based on the assumption that NDVI value is positively proportional to the amount of green vegetation in an image pixel area. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index data set of Landsat based on the remote sensing information is used to estimate the area of plant cover in region west of Baghdad during 1990-2001. The results show that in the period of 1990 and 2001 the plant area in region of Baghdad increased from (44760.25) hectare to (75410.67) hectare. The vegetation area increased during the period 1990-2001, and decreases the exposed area.
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive disorder that affects cognitive brain functions and starts many years before its clinical manifestations. A biomarker that provides a quantitative measure of changes in the brain due to AD in the early stages would be useful for early diagnosis of AD, but this would involve dealing with large numbers of people because up to 50% of dementia sufferers do not receive formal diagnosis. Thus, there is a need for accurate, low-cost, and easy to use biomarkers that could be used to detect AD in its early stages. Potentially, electroencephalogram (EEG) based biomarkers can play a vital role in early diagnosis of AD as they can fulfill these needs. This is a cross-sectional study that aims to demon
... Show MoreBackground: The present study involved the following parts, the first part is evaluation of the levels of glycated hemoglobin(HbA1c), creatinine, uric acid(UA) and albumin in patients with diabetic nephropathy comparison with the group of healthy as a control group. The second part is the measurement and evaluation of oxidative stress represented in the malondihydehyde(MDA) as a biomarker of oxidative stress as well as the identification of vitamins C and E as an antioxidant in patients with diabetic nephropathy(DN) compared with the healthy group. Objective: The objective of this study is to estimate oxidative stress by calculate malondialdehyd as biomarker and evaluate some vitamins such as vit C and vit E as antioxidants in diabetic neph
... Show MorePersons with spinal cord injury are at high risk of developing pressure injuries, and their caregivers are in a critical position to help prevent them. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program for caregivers of persons with spinal cord injuries to prevent pressure injuries in Iraq. A pre- and post-test design was used and involved 25 caregivers of persons with spinal cord injury during the acute care phase in an SCI-specific unit of a hospital. A scale and questionnaire were used to gather the participants’ demographic information, pre- and post-educational program knowledge, and observations of their pre- and post-program performance of pressure injury preventive tasks. Descriptive s
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