Understanding Traffic Accidents among Young Drivers in Qatar

Mortality in Qatari individuals with mental illness: a retrospective cohort study

INTRODUCTION

There is substantial evidence that people with mental illness have higher mortality rates than the general population. However, most of the studies were from Western countries, and it is not clear whether this finding also applies to Arab countries like Qatar.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to explore whether mortality in patients with mental illness in Qatar, is different from those without.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective cohort study, including all Qatari nationals deceased in 2017 and 2018, using the list of registered deaths from Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) Mortuary. We divided the cohort of deceased people into two groups: with and without mental illness. For each of the groups, we collected the age at death, the reported cause of death as well as sociodemographic and clinical data.

RESULTS

There were 602 registered deaths in 2017 and 589 deaths in 2018. The prevalence of mental illness was 20.4%. Compared to subjects without mental illness, subjects with mental illness surprisingly had higher age at death (median ± IQR = 76.5 ± 22.1 years vs. 62.7 ± 32.9 years; p < .001). This difference persisted even after we controlled for covariates. Individuals with mental illness were more likely to die of an infection (OR = 1.98[1.44;2.71]), or of chronic respiratory disease (OR = 3.53 [1.66;7.52]) but less likely to die because of accidental (OR = 0.21[0.09;0.49]) or congenital causes (OR = 0.18[0.04;0.77]).

CONCLUSION

Contrary to most previous studies, we did not find that mortality was higher in Qatari individuals with mental illness. Sociocultural factors, free and easy-to-access healthcare, and an enhanced role of mental health professionals in detecting medical comorbidities may explain this finding.

Prevalence and factors associated with ever had road traffic accidents among drivers in Hargeisa city, Somaliland, 2022

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are a major cause of morbidity in Somaliland. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors associated with traffic-related incidents in Hargeisa city. A cross-sectional study was conducted between January and March 2022, utilizing a mixed approach involving quantitative and qualitative research approaches. Key informant interviews were conducted with 15 government officials, and structured questionnaires were administered to 387 drivers. Cluster sampling and purposive sampling were employed to select drivers and government officials, respectively. Data collection was performed using the Kobo Collect application, followed by cleaning and analysis using IBM SPSS version 25. Descriptive statistics, binary logistic regression, and chi-square tests were utilized for data analysis. The findings revealed an increasing trend of RTAs in Somaliland over the past 11 years (2011-2021). Moreover, the prevalence of RTAs in the past two years alone was determined to be 28.17% (CI: 23.67, 32.63). Factors significantly associated with RTAs in the research area included the type of vehicle, particularly Minibus (AOR = 3.249, CI: 1.022, 10.322) and Vitz (AOR = 2.325, CI: 1.092, 5.494), encountering aggressive behavior from other drivers (AOR = 1.790, CI: 1.013, 3.162), vehicles less than 4 years (AOR = 0.446, CI: 0.258, 0.771), traffic law violations (AOR = 2.726, CI: 1.296, 5.735), and the presence of traffic campaigns (AOR = 0.465, CI: 0.236, 0.917). The study recommends increasing awareness of RTAs among drivers and pedestrians, regular vehicle maintenance checks, enforcement of traffic laws, and increased police presence in road management to reduce fatalities associated with RTAs.

The contributions of injury deaths to the gender gap in life expectancy and life disparity in Eastern Mediterranean Region

BACKGROUND

Injury deaths constitute a major avoidable cause of death affecting life expectancy to a different degree in men and women. This study quantified the contributions of injury deaths to the gender gap in life expectancy (GGLE) and life disparity (GGLD) in nine Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) countries.

METHODS

We retrieved annual data on age-sex specific causes of death from the World Health Organization mortality database for EMR countries with at least 2-year consecutive data during 2010-2019. The injury-related deaths were categorized into five groups: transport accidents, other accidental injuries, intentional self-harm, assault and events of undetermined intent. Considering women as the reference, the GGLE and GGLD were decomposed by age and causes of death, using a continuous-change model.

RESULTS

The largest and smallest GGLE were observed in Kuwait (5.2 years) and Qatar (- 1.2 years), respectively. Qatar (- 2.2 years) and Oman (0.2 years) had the highest and lowest GGLD. The highest contributions of injury deaths to the GGLE/GGLD were seen in Libya (1.8/- 1.2 years), followed by Iran (1.2/- 0.8 years). Among injury causes, transport accidents were the leading cause of GGLE in all countries but Libya and Morocco, with Iran having the greatest contributions (0.6 years). Injury deaths in men aged 15-29 years accounted for 33% [41%] (Kuwait) to 55% [65%] (Oman) of total GGLE [GGLD] attributable to injury deaths.

CONCLUSIONS

High injury deaths, particularly transport accidents, among young men contributed substantially to the GGLE and GGLD across nine EMR countries in this study. This highlights the need for implementing preventing policies to reduce the burden of injury deaths specifically in young men.

Applying a Combination of SEM and fsQCA to Predict Tourist Resource-Saving Behavioral Intentions in Rural Tourism: An Extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior

How to save resources and protect the environment at destinations is one of the hot issues in tourism. One effective solution is to cultivate tourist resource-saving behavioral intentions (TRSBI). Prior studies mainly use Structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore its antecedents, whereas other potential methods (i.e., fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, fsQCA for short) have been less adopted. This study combines SEM and fsQCA to examine TRSBI in a rural tourism context. Specifically, SEM is executed to investigate how environmental concern influences TRSBI based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), while fsQCA is applied to uncover the multiple configurations in the TRSBI formation. The findings from SEM indicated that (1) environmental concern positively and directly influenced TRSBI; (2) TPB constructs (i.e., attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control) positively and separately mediated the associations of environmental concern with TRSBI. The fsQCA outcomes showed that three configurations result in a high level of TRSBI: (1) high attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control, (2) high attitudes toward the behavior, subjective norms, and environmental concern, and (3) high attitudes toward the behavior, perceived behavioral control, and environmental concern. The combined approaches offer a systematic and holistic solution to explore TRSBI in rural tourism.

Predicting Private and Public Pro-Environmental Behaviors in Rural Tourism Contexts Using SEM and fsQCA: The Role of Destination Image and Relationship Quality

The importance of pro-environmental behavior in tourism has been established, but explaining its sub-dimensions, especially in the private and public dimensions, is under-researched. Existing literature on tourism research mainly uses SEM to analyze tourist pro-environmental behavior, while fsQCA is scarcely implemented. In this study, SEM is applied to reveal the links among destination image, relationship quality, and pro-environmental behavior, while fsQCA is utilized to investigate configurations predicting pro-environmental behavior. Responses of 285 tourists were collected and analyzed to test the proposed hypotheses. The SEM results showed that (1) destination image directly and positively affected relationship quality (including satisfaction and destination trust); (2) relationship quality was found to positively and directly influence private and public pro-environmental behaviors; (3) relationship quality did mediate the influence of destination image on private pro-environmental behavior partially, while it played a full mediating role in the effect of destination image on public pro-environmental behavior. The findings from fsQCA indicated that (1) three sufficient configurations consistently lead to a high level of private pro-environmental behavior: (a) high destination image and satisfaction, (b) high destination image and trust, (c) high relationship quality; (2) there was only one sufficient causal configuration for a high level of public pro-environmental behavior: high relationship quality. The results provide tenable evidence that relationship quality can be a vital factor enhancing the sub-dimensions of pro-environmental behavior. The integration of these two methods helps to open the black box of tourist pro-environmental behavior in rural tourism contexts in a more systematic and holistic way.