The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus initially appeared in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China has caused a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) [1]. The disease is rapidly spread around the world causing thousands of deaths and posing critical challenges for public health and clinical research in the world. The outbreak was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a public health emergency of international concern. Nowadays, there are more than 18 millions of confirmed cases of coronavirus across the world with a total of 702,903 deaths [2]. In Morocco, there are 28,500 confirmed cases and 345 deaths. Forecasts for the cumulative number of confirmed, recovered, active and death cases were recently provided [3]. To manage the pandemic spread several countries adopted proactive and preventive measures including home confinement of the population. However, there is evidence that these measures, particularly home confinement, can cause unprecedented disruption in the well-being of the population. Being forced to stay at home and the daily activities’ restrictions could impact the citizens’ health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and behavior-related lifestyle. It has been reported that the COVID-19 pandemic has an impact on psychological behaviors [4], mental health [5] and anxiety/depression [6]. The Moroccan population was under home confinement from March 20, 2020. Assessing rapidly and simply the HRQoL during crisis such as the home confinement is a challenge of interest to provide speedy information to authorities which allow best management of damages yielding in crisis situation. The EQ-5D instrument is a generic questionnaire developed by the Euroqol group for measuring the HRQoL by combining five health dimensions (mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, and anxiety/depression) [7]. The EQ-5D instrument is translated into more than 300 languages and exhibit good reliability and validity in both patients and general population. Herein, we used the EQ-5D-5L instrument to assess for the first time the impact of the home confinement on the HRQoL. Also, we evaluated the changes in behaviors by asking some questions related to lifestyle before and during the home confinement. These data can help the Moroccan authorities and other countries to more understand the impact of this crisis on citizens and therefore to set up adequate protocols for managing the post-confinement or possible future crisis. We provided two datasets: (1) data we collected before confinement from a sample of 484 individuals describing their HRQoL [8] and (2) data we collected during the home confinement period from a sample of 537 individuals describing their HRQoL and behavior-related lifestyle.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared in March 12, 2020 the COVID-19 disease as pandemic. In Morocco, the first local transmission case was detected in March 13. The number of confirmed cases has gradually increased to reach 15,194 on July 10, 2020. To predict the COVID-19 evolution, statistical and mathematical models such as generalized logistic growth model [1], exponential model [2], segmented Poisson model [3], Susceptible-Infected-Recovered derivative models [4] and ARIMA [5] have been proposed and used. Herein, we proposed the use of the Hidden Markov Chain, which is a statistical system modelling transitions from one state (confirmed cases, recovered, active or death) to another according to a transition probability matrix to forecast the evolution of COVID-19 in Morocco from March 14, to October 5, 2020. In our knowledge the Hidden Markov Chain was not yet applied to the COVID-19 spreading. Forecasts for the cumulative number of confirmed, recovered, active and death cases can help the Moroccan authorities to set up adequate protocols for managing the post-confinement due to COVID-19. We provided both the recorded and forecasted data matrices of the cumulative number of the confirmed, recovered and active cases through the range of the studied dates.

This study aimed to identify the impact of nutrition education on various health-related components of hemodialysis patients. A systematic review was conducted according to the PRISMA guidelines. Relevant literature published between 2013 and 2023 was identified across two databases (PubMed and Science Direct). The protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42023460681). Two independent reviewers retrieved the data, and 41 studies were selected. Nine components related to the impact of nutrition education in hemodialysis patients were identified. Each component was clarified by mentioning each study and its results. This study enabled us to characterize the various components of the impact of nutritional education in hemodialysis patients, namely biological markers, quality of life, cost of care, adherence to dietary recommendations, knowledge, malnutrition inflammation, dietary intake, weight change, and behavior change. This systematic review enables healthcare providers to assess the impact of nutritional education on hemodialysis patients. Also, it gives professionals an exact idea of the impact of nutrition education on hemodialysis patients, with knowledge of new methods using behavior change theories and innovative technological tools.

The transition to university is a critical period during which considerable life changes arise. Useful national data to design tailored interventions aimed at promoting health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among Moroccan students are lacking. The present study is aimed at filling this gap by investigating the levels and associated factors of HRQoL among a national sample of Moroccan university students. HRQoL was assessed using the EQ-5D-5L instrument. Data from 2759 university students were collected in a large, cross-sectional, web-based survey. All statistical analyses were conducted using the R software. The EQ-5D-5L findings showed that the majority of students rated level 1 (no problems) and level 2 (slight problems) for the “Mobility”, “Self-Care”, “Usual Activities”, and “Pain/Discomfort” HRQoL dimensions. However, the “Anxiety/Depression” dimension was the exception; more than half (57.1%) of the students were slightly to extremely anxious or depressed. The levels of lifestyle habits were of concern among participants of this study. With respect to sedentary behaviors and physical activity, we found that approximately 80% of participants spent ≥2 h/day on different screen-based sedentary behaviors, and 60% were physically inactive. Lifestyle habits that were found to be associated with HRQoL are sleeping time, physical activity, leisure, hygiene, household activities, homework, and social media time. The multiple regression model explained 93% of the EQ-VAS score variance. The findings could be of great importance for researchers and policymakers interested in promoting health of university students.

Background: Research on COVID-19 has mostly focused on transmission, mortality and morbidity associated with the virus. However, less attention has been given to its impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients with COVID-19. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the demographic and clinical risk factors associated with COVID-19 and evaluate its impact on the HRQoL of COVID-19 survivors. Methods: A case-control study was carried out between September 2021 and March 2022 on 1105 participants. A total of 354 were COVID-19 survivors and 751 were the control group. The HRQoL was assessed using both EQ-5D-5L and SF-6D generic instruments. Results: The average age of all participants was 56.17 ± 15.46. Older age, urban area, tobacco use, presence of chronic diseases especially type 1 diabetes, kidney and cardiovascular diseases were significantly associated with COVID-19. The COVID-19 survivors had significantly lower HRQoL (EQ-VAS = 50.89) compared to the control group (EQ-VAS = 63.36) (p-value < 0.0001). Pain/ discomfort and anxiety/depression were the most negatively affected by COVID-19 (p-value < 0.0001). Conclusions: The findings from this study could help healthcare professionals and policy makers to better understand the HRQoL sequelae among the COVID-19 survivors and contribute to develop tailored interventions.

Introduction Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of cervical cancer patients treated by Concurrent Chemoradiation (CCRT) in Morocco is influenced by multiple concomitant factors that affect patients’ post-treatment physical and psychosocial well-being. Therefore, the assessment of post-treatment health related quality of life may help identify groups of patients and risk factors for future interventions for improving post-treatment quality of life. Method This study aimed at assessing HRQoL and its association to psychological distress of 103 cervical cancer patients treated with CCRT in Morocco. The assessment was performed using the EORTC-QLQ-C30 and the HADS questionnaires. Results Cervical cancer patients had diminished HRQoL for functional dimensions ("emotional functioning", “physical functioning” and “role functioning” with averages of 51.78, 54.17, and 58.74, respectively) and high level for symptomatic dimensions with mean scores of 58.90 for “Appetite loss’, 38.83 for “financial difficulties”, 45.31 for “insomnia”, 45.42 for “fatigue”, and 46.28 for “pain”. The assessment of anxiety and depression symptoms showed that the majority of patients had high level of anxiety (62.1%), and depression (61.2%). Emotional functioning, fatigue and insomnia were the main predictors of anxiety disorder in women with cervical cancer. Lower emotional functioning and greater fatigue and insomnia contributed significantly to higher anxiety level. Conclusions HRQoL and psychological status of Moroccan cervical cancer patients undergoing CCRT were negatively affected. These findings suggest that future patient care policies should include strategies for improving HRQoL, mainly through psychological support and patient education as well as prevention or reduction treatment complications.