No abstract

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is the most common cause of chronic liver disease of infectious etiology in children. This study aims to compare cognitive impairment, and psychological status of treatment-naïve HCV children with control group. Treatment-naïve children with HCV and an equal control group of children of matched age and gender were recruited. Assessment included measures of children’s cognitive functioning, behavior, depression and anxiety as well as laboratory investigations and liver biopsy. Overall 102 children of both genders were recruited; the majority was from rural areas and from middle social class. Their age ranged from 7 to 17 years old. Only 6.9% reported positive family history of Psychiatric disorders while 35.3% reported current Psychiatric disorder. The most frequent diagnosis in the sample was depression (16.7%). Depression scores correlated negatively with liver biopsy activity ( p = 0.024) and positively with WBCS ( p = 0.0024). Anxiety scores correlated positively with WBCS ( p = 0.017). Verbal IQ, performance IQ and total IQ correlated with the social class and with the liver biopsy activity. Also it was found that higher depression scores can predict lower verbal IQ. Depression, social class and liver Inflammation are predictors of cognitive impairment in children with HCV.

Background: Migrant workers make up a third of the population of Saudi Arabia, approximately 13 million. Mental health disorders among this population are common, but very limited data exist currently. Aims: To assess the prevalence of moderate to severe symptoms of depression and stress among a sample of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia. To identify whether migrant-specific factors, such as occupation, nationality, duration of migration, and work characteristics, are associated with depressive and stress symptoms. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 2,123 migrants was conducted in Al Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Depressive and stress symptoms were assessed with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The outcomes were categorized into two levels (i.e. mild or no symptoms versus moderate to severe symptoms). Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regressions were used to assess the relationship with potential covariates. Results: The prevalence of moderate to severe depressive and stress symptoms was 7.3% and 3.6%, respectively. These did not vary by the duration of stay in the country or weekly work hours. However, there was substantial variance in the symptoms by participants’ nationality and occupation. Participants from Bangladesh were 3.8 (95% CI [1.50, 9.62]) times more likely, and hospital cleaners were 6.5 (95% CI [2.12, 20.07]) times more likely to have depressive symptoms. Similarly, auto-repair workers were 6.3 times more likely to have symptoms of stress (95% CI [1.55, 25.90]). Conclusion: The prevalence of depressive and stress symptoms varied significantly depending on occupation and country of origin. It would behoove employers to screen for these mental health conditions and refer employees to the relevant healthcare services. Future studies could examine the feasibility of mental health screening programs among migrant employees.

No abstract