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Background: Child maltreatment is a global issue that significantly impacts children's lives. In 2018, 32% of 15-year-olds in Albania reported experiencing physical abuse., Aim: To assess the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of child abuse and neglect in Albania., Methods: This was the 2022 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children nationwide survey in Albania conducted among 1877 schoolchildren (55% girls) aged 15 years. We collected data on sociodemographic characteristics, physical abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse, emotional neglect, and exposure to domestic violence. We analysed the data using SPSS version 19.0 and used binary logistic regression to assess associations between child abuse, neglect and sociodemographic characteristics., Results: Lifetime prevalence rates were 33.1% for physical abuse, 16.2% for emotional abuse, 3.7% for sexual abuse, 15.7% for emotional neglect, and 7.0% for witness to domestic violence. Children living in urban areas had higher odds of experiencing physical or emotional abuse (OR = 1.4 and 1.6, 95% CI = 1.1-1.7 and 1.2-2.2). Girls had higher odds of experiencing emotional abuse (OR = 1.8, 95% CI = 1.4-2.4) or emotional neglect (OR = 3.4, 95% CI = 2.5-4.6). Girls and children from less affluent families had lower odds of experiencing sexual abuse (OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.3-0.9; OR = 0.5, 95% CI = 0.3-0.8, respectively). Children whose fathers were unemployed had higher odds of witnessing domestic violence (OR = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.1-3.2)., Conclusion: Abuse and neglect are highly prevalent among Albanian children aged 15 years, raising concerns over their future wellbeing. Action is needed by professionals and caregivers and at policy level to mitigate the negative impact and promote children's protection and well-being in the country., (Copyright: © Authors 2024; Licensee: World Health Organization. EMHJ is an open access journal. All papers published in EMHJ are available under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 IGO licence (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/igo).)

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare contrast-enhanced computed tomography with diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of patients with acute biliary pancreatitis., Material and Methods: Fifty-three patients diagnosed with acute biliary pancreatitis, between February 2012 and July 2015, were evaluated using diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography to explain the elevation of cholestasis enzymes and bilirubin levels at "stanbul University. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography imaging was applied within 8 h following first evaluation. Demographic data, severity of pancreatitis, pancreatic apparent diffusion coefficient, and computed tomography severity index were compared. The significance of the results was evaluated using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences 21.0 program., Results: Median age was 53.39 (22-90) years in these 53 patients (26 were males and 27 were females). The mean Ranson criterion was 0.96 (0-4) and mean hospitalization duration was 16.02 (3-100) days. Twenty-eight patients were evaluated to have mild acute pancreatitis, whereas 16 were moderately severe and nine were severe based on the Revised Atlanta Classification. Mild pancreatitis score was 0.89, moderately severe pancreatitis score was 3.50, and severe pancreatitis score was 5.78 using the Balthazar score. Elevated C-reactive protein levels were not correlated with necrosis and the clinical severity score (p>0.05). There was no significant difference among the Balthazar score, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography-apparent diffusion coefficient score, and Revised Atlanta score in the evaluation of the severity of pancreatitis when the two techniques were compared. A statistically insignificant difference was found between the Balthazar score and magnetic resonance imaging results of clinically confirmed necrosis and non-necrosis patients., Conclusion: It can be concluded that diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging might be better than contrast-enhanced computed tomography in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis as it avoids radiation exposure as well as the development of renal failure and pancreatitis aggravation due to the use of contrast for computed tomography. These results need to be confirmed with randomized prospective controlled studies., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.