Bøger af Rim Masmoudi

In view of the progressive ageing of the Tunisian population, dementia will be a major health, social and economic issue facing our country in the years ahead. The general practitioner is the patient's first medical recourse and plays a fundamental role in initiating the diagnostic process for dementia. We conducted a study to assess the knowledge and practices of general practitioners in identifying cognitive disorders in the elderly, and to determine the obstacles to early diagnosis of dementia. Our study shows that there is a lack of early detection of cognitive disorders in the elderly. When faced with a memory complaint, 20% of doctors said they identified cognitive disorders, and 36.4% said they referred the patient to a specialist straight away. More than half of doctors (54.4%) had never carried out a cognitive assessment. Developing simpler cognitive tests, and updating and improving training for 1st-line doctors would improve early diagnosis of these pathologies.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a complex disorder involving genetic vulnerability and environmental factors such as childhood maltreatment. We conducted a study of patients being followed for BD to assess their experience of childhood maltreatment. We conducted a retrospective assessment of childhood maltreatment using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). The Suicide Probability Scale (SPS) was used to assess suicidal risk. In our study, 45.2% of patients had experienced at least one type of childhood abuse. Physical abuse was the most frequent form of maltreatment (28.6%). Childhood maltreatment was associated with an earlier age of onset of TB, more frequent thymic relapses, a rapid-cycle course, poor therapeutic compliance and a higher suicidal potential. These findings underline the negative impact of childhood maltreatment on the course and prognosis of TB. Preventive measures are needed to limit their deleterious effects.

In our study, we assessed sexual desire, sexual behavior and perceived stress during the COVID-19 pandemic in a population of physicians. Our study was cross-sectional and descriptive, conducted among a sample of healthcare professionals, interviewed during the period from September 2020 to January 2021 via social networks. We used the Sexual Desire Rating Scale (SDRS) and the Perceived Stress Rating Scale (PSS). We included 104 physicians ranging in age from 24 to 60. Of the participants, 40.4% avoided having sex with their partner during this period. Participants reported a decrease in desire in 30.8% of cases during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Assessment of sexual desire using the Sexual Desire Scale (SDS) showed that 33.7% had a below-average mean total desire score; 41.3% had a below-average mean dyadic desire score and 75% had a below-average solitary desire score. No significant association was found between sexual desire scores and perceived stress.

In our study, we assessed sexual function in patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA). Our study was cross-sectional, descriptive and case-control analytic, involving OSA patients recruited from a sleep unit. We used the Epworth Sleepiness Scale, the International Index of Erectile Function Scale, the Female Sexual Function Index Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Sexual Satisfaction Index to assess daytime sleepiness, sexual function, anxiety and depressive symptoms and sexual satisfaction respectively. The prevalence of sexual dysfunction (SD) was 56.5% in men and 71.4% in women. Patients presented anxious symptomatology in 36.4% and depressive symptomatology in 29.5%. Compared with controls, SD was more frequent, and the mean marital sexual dissatisfaction score was significantly higher in patients. Hence the importance of assessing sexual function in these patients in order to improve their quality of life.