Background In December 2019, a novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2 was identified as the cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China. It rapidly spread due to human-to-human transmission, resulting in a global pandemic. Nearly every country, including Qatar, has established guidelines and regulations to limit the spread of the virus and to preserve public health. However, these procedures have been associated with negative effects on the psychological and intellectual well-being of individuals, including children and adolescents. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the psychological influence of home isolation and social distancing on children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic in Qatar, and the strategies used to cope with these measures. Methods This cross-sectional study was undertaken using an online questionnaire administered through SMS text messaging. All home-isolated children and adolescents registered at the Primary Health Care Corporation aged 7-18 years were invited to participate in the study. Children and adolescents with intellectual disadvantages were excluded. A P value of .05 (two-tailed) was considered statistically significant. Results Data were collected from 6608 participants from June 23 to July 18, 2020. Nearly all participants adhered to the official regulations during the period of home isolation and social distancing; however, 69.1% (n=4568) of parents believed their children were vulnerable to the virus compared to 25% (n=1652) who expressed they were not vulnerable at all. Higher levels of anger, depression, and general anxiety were prevalent among 1.3% (n=84), 3.9% (n=260), and 1.6% (n=104) of participants, respectively. The mean score for the emotional constructs anger and depression decreased with increased compliance with regulations ( P =.04 and P =.11, respectively). The differences in mean score for all psychological and coping strategies used among participants across the 3 levels of vulnerability to SARS-CoV-2 were statistically significant. The mean score varied little with increasing reported vulnerability to the virus. This mild variation can make a difference when the sample size is large, as is the case in this study. Conclusions Screening for psychological and social disruptions is important for the development of strategies by schools and health care providers to assess and monitor behavioral changes and negative psychological impact during post–COVID-19 reintegration. Participants experiencing higher levels of anxiety should be given more attention during reintegration and transitional phases in schools. Although electronic devices and social media platforms may have lowered anxiety levels in some cases, it is important to address how they are used and how content is tailored to children and adolescents. It is also impo...

Introduction: Primary dysmenorrhea affects many women, being a major cause of absenteeism and reduced productivity at work and at school. Although non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are a good treatment option, up to 18% of women show no response or present allergic reactions and adverse events. Curcumin has antispasmodic, antinociceptive and both specific and nonspecific anti-inflammatory effects, with good tolerability and safety. To date, no previous trial involving curcumin and dysmenorrhea pain has been performed. Therefore, our main goal is to assess the efficacy of curcumin for pain relief among women with primary dysmenorrhea, along with determining curcumin's adverse effects and tolerability profile. Methods: A phase II, single-center, randomized, triple-blinded, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, superiority trial to evaluate the effect of curcumin (500 mg/12h) in pain reduction in women (18 to 35-year-old) with primary dysmenorrhea. A first cycle will be used for a passive, observational run-in phase. A sample of 108 participants (54 per group) is necessary to detect a 30% difference in pain sensitivity between groups assessed by visual analogue scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes include side effects, Cox Menstrual Symptom Scale (CMSS), and use of rescue drugs for pain relief. Discussion: Clinical evidence has shown analgesic and anti-inflammatory effects of curcumin and in view of dysmenorrhea's physiopathology being related to those mechanisms targeted by curcumin, we hypothesize its use could represent an innovative and effective therapy to reduce the severity of this disease and its symptoms.

Background: Depression and anxiety are the commonest mental health disorders worldwide (1). In Qatar, a cross-sectional study conducted among Qatari adolescents in secondary schools in 2017 found that 34.5% have depression with female predominance (5), but no study in Qatar has addressed both disorders co-occurrence. Objectives: The main objective is to assess the prevalence and co-occurrence of major depression disorder and generalized anxiety disorder in adolescents in Qatar. Research participants: adolescents aged 12-18 years old. Method: Cross-sectional study. An online questionnaire including Demographic data, PHQ-9 and GAD-7 will be sent to parents or legal guardians to take online consent, then to be filled in by their children in the ages of 12-18 years old. Proposed analysis: Chi-square test will be used to test the significance of association between variables. The significant level for all statistical analysis was set at 0.05. Anticipated result: According to a previous local study in Qatar we expect the prevalence of both disorders in this age group to be around 30% if not more and as per worldwide studies result 25-50% of depressed patient have anxiety also and 10-15% who have anxiety found to have depression as comorbidity, so we expect to have co-occurrences in this range. Key words: Depression, Generalized Anxiety disorders, Adolescents, Qatar, PHQ-9, GAD-7, cross-sectional.

Aim: to evaluate randomized controlled trials and perform a meta-analysis to assess the efficacy of curcumin on inflammatory pain in different disorders, in comparison to placebo and traditional pain treatments (NSAIDs and glucosamine plus chondroitin). Method and design: meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCT). Data sources: Pubmed and Cochrane library were searched for relevant RCTs from January 1999 to July 2021. Reference lists were manually checked. Selection criteria: published RCTs comparing curcumin to placebo or other treatment modalities in adults with different pain disorders were eligible for inclusion. Data collection and criteria: the studies were selected, and their quality was assessed by two review authors. Standardized mean difference (SMD) was used to analyze the continuous outcome using a random effect model. Results: In all the 15 studies included 1475 subjects. Curcumin was found to be superior in controlling pain against placebo. Moreover, curcumin demonstrated a superior effect in controlling osteoarthritic pain when compared to Glucosamine and Chondroitin combination. However, Curcumin was found to be similarly effective to NSAIDs in controlling pain. Conclusions: Curcumin was found superior in pain relief against placebo and combination of glucosamine and chondroitin. In addition, it demonstrated equal efficacy in relieving osteoarthritic pain, when compared to NSAIDs. Key words: curcumin, inflammatory pain, osteoarthritis, NSAIDs, VAS, MOMAC, meta-analysis, Dysmenorrhea, post-surgical pain.

BACKGROUND By the end of 2019, a novel coronavirus was identified as the cause of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China. It rapidly spread due to a strong evidence of human-to-human transmission, resulting in a pandemic throughout the world. Almost all countries around the world, including Qatar, have established instructions and regulations to limit the spread of the virus and to preserve the health of societies. Unfortunately, these procedures are often associated with some negative effects on individuals’ psychological and intellectual well-being, including children and adolescents. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to screen the psychological effects of home isolation and social distancing on children and adolescents, and the strategies used to cope with those effects. METHODS This is a cross-sectional study implemented using an online scaling questionnaire through a SMS text messaging. All home-isolated children and adolescents registered in Primary Health Care Corporation aged 7-18 years old invited to participate in the study, children and adolescents with intellectual disadvantages excluded. A p value 0.05 (two tailed) is considered for statistically significant level. RESULTS Data were collected from 6608 participants through the period of June 23rd to July 18th, 2020. Almost all the participants have followed the official regulations during the period of home isolation and social distancing, and 69.1% of their parents expressed their children and adolescents were vulnerable to the virus as an average person, compared to 25% expressed they were not vulnerable at all. The mean score of emotional construct anger and depression have decreased with the increase of following official instructions, with p value of 0.04 and 0.11 respectively. The difference in mean score of all psychological effects and the coping strategies used among participants between the three levels of vulnerability to corona virus, were statistically significant. The trend of mean score varied little with the escalation of the level of vulnerability to the virus. This mild variation can make difference when sample size is large as in case of our study. CONCLUSIONS Screening for psychological and social disruptions is of importance to develop strategies by schools and healthcare providers to assess and monitor behavioral changes and negative psychological effects during reintegration post-COVID-19. Participants experiencing higher levels of anxieties should be given extra attention during reintegration and transitional phases in schools. Although electronic devices and social media platforms may have lowered the level of anxiety in some cases, it is important to address how electronic devices and social media platforms are used and how content is tailored to children and adolescents. It is also important to maintain an active lifestyle for children and young adults, and encourage them not to neglect their physical health, as it promotes better psychological state of mind.