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Background: Self-medication during pregnancy is of great interest. The use of drugs during pregnancy requires a careful reflection on the benefits to the mother and the risks to the fetus. Selecting a drug or drugs for treating pregnant women can be difficult for clinicians owing to the various pharmacokinetic and physiological changes encountered during pregnancy. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication and associated factors among women during pregnancy., Methods: Searches were carried out at PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The quality of the studies and the risk of bias were analyzed using the Joanna Briggs Critical Appraisal Checklist for Analytical Cross-Sectional Studies instrument. The extracted data were tabulated and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively through meta-analysis., Results: The overall prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women was 44.50% (95% CI: 38.92-50.23). Subgroup analyses showed differences in self-medication prevalence influenced by region, county income, and study design. The Heterogeneity, assessed by the statistical test I2 varied from 96 to 99% and was statistically significant. The result of this funnel plot showed that the funnel plot was symmetry with p-value = 0.36, and there is no publication bias., Conclusion: The results obtained from this study showed that the prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women is relatively high. This requires effective measures and interventions to reduce self-medication., Trial Registration: ID =  CRD42022312333 ., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Background: The Kingdom of Morocco approved BBIBP-CorV (Sinopharm) COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on 22 January 2021 in a two-dose, three-to-four-week interval schedule. We conducted a retrospective cohort study to determine real-world BBIBP-CorV vaccine effectiveness (VE) against serious or critical hospitalization of individuals RT-PCR-positive for SARS-CoV-2 during the first five months of BBIBP-CorV use in Morocco., Methods: The study was conducted among adults 18-99 years old who were tested by RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 infection between 1 February and 30 June 2021. RT-PCR results were individually linked with outcomes from the COVID-19 severe or critical hospitalization dataset and with vaccination histories from the national vaccination registration system. Individuals with partial vaccination (< 2 weeks after dose two) or in receipt of any other COVID-19 vaccine were excluded. Unadjusted and adjusted VE estimates against hospitalization for serious or critical illness were made by comparing two-dose vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in logistic regression models, calculated as (1-odds ratio) * 100%., Results: There were 348,190 individuals able to be matched across the three databases. Among these, 140,892 were fully vaccinated, 206,149 were unvaccinated, and 1,149 received homologous BBIBP-CorV booster doses. Unadjusted, full-series, unboosted BBIBP-CorV VE against hospitalization for serious or critical illness was 90.2% (95%CI: 87.8-92.0%). Full-series, unboosted VE, adjusted for age, sex, and calendar day of RT-PCR test, was 88.5% (95%CI: 85.8-90.7%). Calendar day- and sex-adjusted VE was 96.4% (95%CI: 94.6-97.6%) for individuals < 60 years, and was 53.3% (95%CI: 39.6-63.9%) for individuals 60 years and older. There were no serious or critical illnesses among BBIBP-CorV-boosted individuals., Conclusions: Effectiveness of Sinopharm's BBIBP-CorV was consistent with phase III clinical trial results. Two doses of BBIBP-CorV was highly protective against COVID-19-associated serious or critical hospitalization in working-age adults under real-world conditions and moderately effective in older adults. Booster dose vaccination was associated with complete protection, regardless of age, although only a small proportion of subjects received booster doses., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Moroccan incidence of cancer is increasing with the lengthening of life expectancy. Data regarding elderly Moroccan cancer patients are lacking. In the context of our project aiming to develop an adapted version of the Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment CGA to the Moroccan population, we launched the first Moroccan multicenter transverse study to explore the characteristics of elderly Moroccan cancer patients., Methods: The study was conducted in nine Moroccan medical oncology departments. Patients were enrolled over 4 months. Inclusion criteria were patients aged 65 years or over with verified solid cancer. The questionnaire included four sections: socio-demographic and economic data, clinical data, vulnerability and EORTC-QLQ C30. We explored the entire included population. Then, we compared the results according to age (65-70 years old and ≥ 71 years old) and sex. We also explored the correlation between G8 scores and the ability to practice religion as an indicator of fitness level., Results: In total, 164 patients were enrolled. The mean age was 73.18 ± 6.01 years. The majority of patients were married, lived with their children and received their financial income from them. Fifteen percent of families asked to hide the diagnosis from the patient. Breast (23%), colorectal (15.9%) and lung (14%) cancers were the most frequent, and 83.5% had an abnormal G8. The majority of the patients were independent for basic daily activities. Female patients had poorer social and economic conditions. Abnormal G8 was correlated with religious practice and quality of life scores., Conclusion: This is the first multicenter prospective study designed to collect data on the lifestyle and clinical profiles of elderly Moroccan cancer patients as an Arab and Muslim population. Our study shows that it is a well-cared-for population with strong social ties. However, there is deep economic vulnerability, especially among women, requiring urgent care. Religious practice is an important daily activity for our elderly patients and should be included in the Moroccan CGA.

Background: The aim of this systematic review is to determine the epidemiological and etiological profiles, the influential factors of the prehospital delay, thrombolysis management, the acute and 3-month mortality rate and the genetic aspect of ischemic stroke in Morocco., Methods: The present work is a systematic review that was conducted according to the recommendations of the "Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis". We used Pubmed, Sciencedirect, Scopus, Clinicalkey, and Google scholar databases for the raking of the gray literature during the time frame 2009 and 2018. The protocol of the review was registered in the PROSPERO register (CRD42018115206). These studies were analyzed based on: Age, sex ratio, risk factors, etiological profile according to Trial of ORG classification 10,172 in Acute Stroke Treatment, prehospital delay average and its influential factors, thrombolyzed patients' proportion, acute and 3-month mortality and the genetic factors of ischemic stroke in Morocco., Results: Twenty-nine (n = 29) studies were selected. The average age ranged from 49 ± 15.2 to 67.3 ± 9.9 years old. Moreover, we reported male predominance within all ages in 13 studies. High blood pressure, diabetes, smoking and heart disease were the four identified main risk factors by the prementioned studies. Atherosclerosis and cardioembolic were the main described etiologies of cerebral ischemia, and the average prehospital time ranged from 26 to 61.9 h. The proportion of thrombolysed patients ranged from 1.8% to 2.9%, the mortality rate varied in the acute phase from 3 to 13%, and the 3-month mortality ranged from 4.3 to 32.5%. It is also important to highlight that most of these studies, which were conducted in hospital environment, have a reduced sample size and no confidence interval., Conclusions: Ischemic stroke is affecting more likely the young population with male predominance. Moreover, the long prehospital delay and the low proportion of thrombolysed patients are alarming. This indicates the need to investigate in depth the key factors influencing the access to care for Moroccan patients in order to improve the management of this neurologic deficit in Morocco.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the quality of life of caregiver's. The study was conducted at the RABAT National Institute of Oncology in MOROCCO., Results: 120 patients on the palliative phase of advanced cancer were included. Severe fatigue was observed in 64.2% of patients with an average of 90.55 ± 14.7. There was a positive association between functional dimensions and overall quality of life and a negative association between symptoms and overall quality of life. Patients under 30 years had a lower quality of life. According to the multi-varied analysis, physical function, emotional functioning and fatigue were significant predictors of Health related quality of life/overall quality of life (p < 0.05).

Background: Recently women's lung cancer mortality rates have dramatically increased in developed countries, contrasting with a levelling off or decrease among men. Descriptive epidemiological data on primary lung cancer in women is scarce in Morocco. The aim of this study, conducted in the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, was to describe the epidemiological profiling especially for the smoking status, to determine the most frequent type of lung cancer, and to analyse the survival of Moroccan women with lung cancer diagnosis., Results: We found 101 women among 1680 (male and female) cases of lung cancer. The never-smokers were estimated to 75 %. The proportion of adenocarcinoma among never and passive smokers was higher than that of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) (69.4 versus 30.6 %), while among women who were smokers, the most frequent histological type was SCC (63.6 %). The Cox regression analysis showed that smoking and passive smoking were not significantly associated with survival [HR: 0.62 (95 % CI 0.31, 1.30); p = 0.19] [HR: 0.56 (95 % CI 0.29, 1.08); p = 0.08] respectively. Adenocarcinoma was significantly associated with shorter survival [HR: 1.73 (95 % CI 1.05, 2.85); p = 0.03]., Conclusions: The majority Moroccan women affected by lung cancer have never smoked (75 %). Environmental exposures, genetic predisposition, hormonal factors, and viral infection may all play a role in lung cancer in this category. The relation between histological type and tobacco found in our series concurred with those reported in the literature--adenocarcinoma appears to be the most frequent cell type affecting never and passive smokers. Adenocarcinoma is significantly associated with poorer survival.

Background: Cancer of uterine cervix is the second most common cause of cancer related deaths among women. The aim of this study is to report the experience of Military Hospital Mohamed V in the management of cervical cancer and their results., Methods: All cervical cancer managed at the radiotherapy department of Military Hospital Mohamed V between January 2005 and February 2010, were included for investigation of their demographic, histological, therapeutic and follow-up characteristics. Of the 162 cases managed, 151 (93.2 %) cases were treated in our department., Results: In our study the median age was 51.5 years (33-82). The median duration of symptoms before diagnosis was four [3, 7] months. The major presenting complaints were abnormal vaginal bleeding (89.8 %). Squamous cell carcinoma cervix was seen in 86.2 % (n = 137), adenocarcinoma in 11.3 % (n = 18) and adenosquamous carcinoma in 2.4 % (n = 4). One hundred seventeen (84.8 %) cases were seen at late stage. An abdominal and pelvic computed tomography (CT) scan was performed in 34.6 % (n = 56) of cases, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in 62.9 % (n = 102). The pelvic lymph nodes were achieved in 16.6 % of cases. Over half of patients 58.3 % (n = 88) were treated with a combination of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and a concurrent cisplatin based chemotherapy (40 mg /m2 weekly). With a mean of 51.6 months (2 to 109), we recorded 19 (12.6 %) pelvic relapse and 15 (9.9 %) metastases. The median time to onset was 19.4 months (2-84 months). The local control rate was 63.6 % (n = 96) and 21 (13.9 %) patients were lost to follow-up. The overall survival (OS) at 3 years and 5 years was respectively 78.3 % and 73.6 % and the relapse-free survival (RFS) was respectively 80 % and 77.2 %., Conclusion: Most of cervical cancer patients in Morocco are seen at late stage necessitating referral for radiotherapy, chemotherapy or palliative care. This may reflect lack of cervical screening in order to early detect and treat pre-malignant disease stage.

Introduction: The mouse mammary tumor virus (MMTV) like sequences have been reported to be present in some human breast cancers, but their association with breast cancer development is still controversial., Methods: In this retrospective study, we investigated the status of MMTV-like in 42 tumor biopsies and 18 paired normal tissues from Moroccan patients with breast cancer. MMTV-like env sequences were identified by PCR and confirmed by direct DNA sequencing., Results: Specific MMTV-like env sequences were found in 24 (57.14%) cases of breast carcinomas, and 6 (33.3%) cases of matched normal breast tissues. Comparison to sociologic and clinicopathological parameters showed no significant association between the presence of MMTV-like sequences and age, menopausal status, histological subtype, histological grade, tumor size and the expression of hormone receptors (estrogen ER and/or progesterone PgR) and Her 2. However, a significant correlation was found between MMTV-like presence and parity (p = 0.024)., Conclusions: This present study confirms the presence of MMTV-like env sequences in breast cancer in Moroccan women, prompting further evaluation, on large sampling, to elucidate the probable causal roles of MMTV-like in breast cancer development.

Background: Breast cancer is uncommon in young women and induces more aggressive biologic characteristics. Survival in young women has been widely studied in developed countries. Less favorable prognosis and low survival were found.In Morocco, this study is the first investigation of clinical features, treatment and prognosis associated with breast cancer in young women., Findings: Four hundred and nine women aged 35 years or less were included in this study. All these women were diagnosed as having breast cancer at the National Institute of Oncology in Rabat, Morocco between 2003 and 2007. The relation between clinical and therapeutic characteristics and event-free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) were assessed by Cox regression analysis.The median age of the patients was 32 years. Fifty three patients (13%) have metastatic disease at diagnosis and 356 patients (87%) had localised disease. In 57.9% of the cases, the estrogen receptors status was positive. The median follow-up was 32.2 months. After 3 years the survival rate was 80.6%. In the case of localised disease, OS and EFS at 3 years were 83.2% and 62.5%, respectively. OS and EFS at 3 years was higher in patients with stage I than patients with stage II and stage III (p = 0.001). Positive estrogen receptors was significantly associated to OS and EFS at 3 years compared to negative estrogen receptors (p = 0.001). Adjuvant chemotherapy, adjuvant radiotherapy and adjuvant hormone therapy were associated with net benefit in OS and EFS at 3 years. Cox regression analysis showed that negative ER was significantly associated with poorer OS (HR = 2.42, 95% CI = 1.25 - 4.66, p < 0.009) and poorer EFS (HR = 1.73, 95%CI = 1.05 - 2.86, p = 0.03). Stage III disease were associated to poorer EFS (HR = 5.35, 95%CI = 1.60 -17.84, p = 0.006)., Conclusions: In Morocco, young women with breast cancer had less favorable prognosis. Multivariate analysis showed that negative hormone receptor status was associated with lower EFS and OS. Clinical trials should be launched to improve the survival of these young women with breast cancer.