BackgroundIn the past decades, thanks to the widespread use of the new information and communication technologies, nomophobia has emerged as a contemporary psychological disorder. More in detail, it has been defined as the modern fear of feeling disconnected, being out of mobile phone contact, and being unable to access information and/or communicate with others. Few authors have used an Arabic version of the Nomophobia Questionnaire, even though its psychometric properties are not well known and have been poorly investigated from a formal rigorous standpoint.Materials and methodsOur research objective was to develop and validate the Arabic version, administering it to a sample of adolescents and young adults in a country characterized by a high mobile network coverage. A total of 512 subjects (aged 21.62±4.33 years, median 20 years), equally distributed between males and females, and based in Kuwait, volunteered to take part in the study.ResultsThe confirmatory factor analysis did not show a completely satisfactory fitting with the original factor structure. The exploratory factor analysis showed that four factors had 57.24% variance. Overall Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was 0.879. However, the coefficient increased from 0.645 to 0.849 with respect to the original factor structure. Scores (and mean scores) were 4.25±1.59 (21.23±7.95), 2.95±1.33 (17.68±7.97), 4.48±1.78 (8.96±3.56), and 4.98±1.52 (34.84±10.67) for factors I, II, III, and IV, respectively, whereas the overall score (and mean overall score) was 4.14±1.13 (82.71±22.68).ConclusionIn our sample, no subject (0.0%) was without nomophobia, with 92 (18.0%) and 288 individuals (56.2%) reporting mild and moderate nomophobia levels, respectively. Approximately a quarter of the recruited sample (132 subjects, 25.8%) had severe nomophobia level.

BackgroundDiabetes represents a major public health concern. According to the International Diabetes Federation, about 8%–9% of the population have diabetes, and rates are even higher among Muslim communities. Despite the risks, about half (43%) with type 1 diabetes and most (86%) of those with type 2 diabetes fast during Ramadan. However, there is a dearth of information concerning the determinants that drive diabetic people to fast. Therefore, the present study was designed to fill this gap in knowledge.Materials and methodsA sample of 201 subjects volunteered to take part in this study. Mean age was 45.39±15.74 years. Most participants were female, married and had received at least primary education. They fasted for 22.98±8.53 days.ResultsFor the overall questionnaire, the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was found to be excellent (α=0.910). The coefficient was good, yielding a value of 0.879, for the items concerning Ramadan fasting beliefs and practices, whereas the subscale for religious beliefs and practices obtained a score of 0.847. At the univariate analysis, patients with complicated diabetes (n=66, 32.8% of the sample) fasted for 20.77±9.21 days vs subjects with diabetes (n=135, 67.2% of the interviewees), who fasted for 24.05±7.99 days. The difference was statistically significant (P=0.014). The multivariate analysis indicated that religious beliefs and practices influenced the number of fasting days in a statistically significant way, after adjusting for confounders (beta coefficient =−0.199, t=−2.917, P=0.004). Another variable that impacted on the number of fasting days was the presence of complications (beta coefficient=−0.194, t=−2.775, P=0.006).ConclusionOur results warrant further studies in the field.

Mental, neurological and substance use (MNS) disorders represent a major source of disability and premature mortality worldwide. However, in developing countries patients with MNS disorders are often poorly managed and treated, particularly in marginalized, impoverished areas where the mental health gap and the treatment gap can reach 90%. Efforts should be made in promoting help by making mental health care more accessible. In this article, we address the challenges that psychological and psychiatric services have to face in a low-resource context, taking our experience at a Moroccan rehabilitation center as a case study. A sample of 60 patients were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire during the period of 2014–2015. The questionnaire investigated the reactions and feelings of the patients to the rehabilitation program, and their perceived psychological status and mental improvement, if any. Interviews were then transcribed and processed using ATLAS.ti V.7.0 qualitative analysis software. Frequencies and co-occurrence analyses were carried out. Despite approximately 30 million inhabitants within the working age group, Morocco suffers from a shortage of specialized health workers. Our ethnographic observations show that psychiatric treatment can be ensured, notwithstanding these hurdles, if a public health perspective is assumed. In resource-limited settings, working in the field of mental health means putting oneself on the line, exposing oneself to new experiences, and reorganizing one’s own skills and expertise. In the present article, we have used our clinical experience at a rehabilitation center in Fes as a case study and we have shown how to use peer therapy to overcome the drawbacks that we are encountered daily in a setting of limited resources.

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This article reports the data of the Modified Somatic Perception Questionnaire (MSPQ) administered to a sample of 143 immigrants accessing an outpatient clinic or the general practitioners offices in Genoa (Italy) compared with 186 Italian patients. For further details and for the interpretation of the data, the reader is referred to the original publication “Somatic perception, cultural differences and immigration: results from administration of the Modified Somatic Perception Questionnaire (MSPQ) to a sample of immigrants” by Bragazzi et al. (2014) [1].