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Background: Infants fed contaminated breast milk are at an increased risk of exposure to lead. Breast milk to blood (M/B) ratios have not been investigated among women in Palestine. The aim of this study was to assess blood, breast milk, and M/B lead ratios in samples collected from Palestinian breastfeeding women. Associations between sociodemographic characteristics with breast milk lead levels and M/B lead ratios were also investigated. Methods: This study was conducted in a cross-sectional design in the period between October 2017 and April 2018. Breastfeeding women visiting maternity care centers in different regions of the West Bank of Palestine were recruited to the study by the nurses in the maternity care centers. Sociodemographic characteristics, venous blood, and breast milk samples were collected from each participant. Lead concentrations were analyzed using a validated inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometric method. Mann–Whitney U test, Pearson's Chi-square, Fisher's exact, and Spearman's correlations were used to analyze the data. Odds ratios (OR) were computed using a multivariate logistic regression model. Results: Matching blood and milk samples were collected from 80 women. Lead concentrations in 11 (13.8%) of the breast milk samples were above the World Health Organization's recommended levels. Breast milk lead levels were more likely to be ≥5 μg/L in breastfeeding women who lived in urban areas (aOR 4.96; 95% CI 1.10, 22.38) compared to those who lived in rural areas. Breast milk to blood lead ratios were more likely to be ≥25% in breastfeeding women who lived in urban areas (aOR 7.06; 95% CI 1.68, 29.77), used eye kohl (aOR 14.29; 95% CI 1.32, 155.06), and used hair dye (aOR 5.33; 95% CI 1.58, 18.00) compared to those who lived in rural areas, did not use eye kohl, and did not use hair dye, respectively. Conclusions: Higher M/B lead ratios were predicted by living in urban areas, using eye kohl, and using hair dye. Decision makers in health authorities should address sources of exposure to lead in urban areas. Cosmetics containing lead should be assessed and regulated for lead content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background The aim was to study the effect of country of birth, educational level and county of residence on overweight and obesity among pregnant women in Norway. Methods Observational study based on Medical Birth Registry Norway and Statistics Norway. The study population consisted of 219 555 deliveries in 2006–2014. Body mass index (BMI) was registered at the first antenatal care visit. Multivariate regression analysis was used to explore the study aims. Results Overweight (BMI 25–29.9) was recorded in 22.3% of the women, obesity (BMI ≥30) in 12.2%. Highest rates of overweight (30.8%) and obesity (13.5%) was recorded among women from the Middle East and North Africa or with no education (30.7% and 17.2%). The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 39.5% in sparsely populated counties and 26.4% for women living in Oslo. Adjusted for country of birth, education level, age, parity, smoking and marital status, the relative odds of overweight and obesity were 65% (95% CI 59–72%) higher in sparsely populated counties compared to Oslo. Conclusions The prevalence of overweight (BMI ≥25) was 34.5%. The factors associated with overweight were living in rural districts in Norway, lower education and being born in countries in the Middle East or Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To describe the distribution of social factors, lifestyle habits and anthropometric measurements according to hypertension and Type-2 diabetes. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Gaza City, Palestine that included 379 patients (20-60 years) who had hypertension and/or diabetes. Three groups of patients were involved; 106 hypertensive (HT), 109 diabetic (T2DM) and 164 hypertensive diabetics (HT + T2DM). Results: The HT + T2DM group were older and had a higher body mass index compared to HT and T2DM groups. There were 62.3% patients who were female, 49.2% were highly educated HT patients, and 49.3% patients had a low level of education and were HT + T2DM. There were 55.8% patients who lived in large families. Patients who were passive smokers or never smoked before were mostly HT + T2DM, while active smokers and past smokers had T2DM. There were 48.2% patients who were highly physically active who had HT, 40.9% whom were moderately active had T2DM, and 53.8% of patients who had a low level of activity were HT + T2DM. Multivariate linear regression showed that having a diseased mother, living in a large family, being a past or passive smoker, or never having smoked, having a low or moderate level of activity, and having HT or HT + T2DM, were significantly associated with an increased body mass index. Conclusion: Parental health/disease conditions and environmental factors (social network and lifestyle habits) played the greatest role in the development of obesity and disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Occupational hazards, exposure to blood and body fluids (BBF) accidents and safety precautions constitute an important public health issue. We assessed the prevalence and determinants of exposure to occupational hazards among nurses, and their knowledge of occupational safety precautions. In a cross-sectional study, we surveyed 332 nurses working in 4 hospitals, Nablus, West Bank, Palestine, by a questionnaire. Bivariate analysis tested the associations between ever exposure and the high likelihood of BBF exposure and the independent socio-demographic and occupational variables. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to assess the associations between the same two exposures and selected independent variables (those significant in the bivariate analysis). Prevalence of ever exposure to BBF was 51.7%, and was associated with working in private and charitable hospitals (OR 2.62, 2.68, respectively), having 4-6 family members (OR 0.52) and "nursing" being as one's top career choice at university (OR 0.48). The prevalence of high likelihood of BBF exposure was 62.2%, and was associated with working in charitable and private hospitals (OR 7.81, 2.43, respectively) and "nursing" being as one's top career choice (OR 0.57). Regarding knowledge, most respondents believed it is necessary to enact laws and regulations regarding occupational safety precautions, reported the use of sharps containers, immediate disinfection after an accident, reporting an accident, and using personal protective equipment. Nurses had adequate knowledge of the risks of their hospital work. Nevertheless, they exhibited high prevalence of exposure to BBF accidents. Future studies are needed to re-evaluate existing occupational safety guidelines in hospitals, establish monitoring and evaluation protocols for health care workers' adherence to the guidelines, and institute well-defined policies for reporting occupational injury incidents so these can be handled appropriately." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective. Several studies indicate that ethnicity may be a strong predictor of poor self-rated health (SRH). The aims of the present study were to investigate whether there was an association between ethnicity and poor SRH in subjects with type 2 diabetes and to determine if the association remained after adjusting for possible confounders such as age, gender employment, marital status, and education. Design. A cross-sectional study based on a patient population in the town of Södertälje. An unconditional logistic regression was performed to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Setting. Four primary health care centers. Subjects. A total of 354 individuals were included: Assyrian/Syrian-born (n = 173) and Swedish-born (n = 181). Results. The odds ratio for rating poor SRH for Assyrian/Syrian subjects with type 2 diabetes was 4.5 times higher (95% CI = 2.7-7.5) than for Swedish patients in a crude model. After adjusting for possible confounders, unemployed/retired people had 5.4 times higher odds for reporting poor SRH than employees (OR = 5.4; 95% CI = 2.3-12.5). Women had 1.8 times higher odds (95% CI = 1.0-3.0) for reporting poor SRH than men. In the final model poor SRH among Assyrians/Syrians decreased but still remained significant (OR=3.7; 95% CI = 2.5-6.6). Conclusions. The findings in this study are important for planning primary health care services. They highlight the crucial importance of being aware of the subjective health status of immigrants fleeing from war in the Middle East and resettling in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]