Aging is the process of growing older at cellular, organ, or whole body level throughout the life span. Furthermore, the term “demographic transition” refers to a shift in fertility and mortality rates leading to changes in population growth rates, and age distribution. Thus, as people globally live longer, increasing levels of chronic illness as well as diminished wellbeing are nominated to become major global health challenges. Subsequently, the global population of elderly is projected to further increase and reach 1.4 billion by 2030 and 2.1 billion by 2050. Moreover, ageing has important implications on social security, the economy, the organization and delivery of health care, caregiver availability and constraints, society, and policies. Thus, it is pertinent to establish comprehensive elderly-friendly health care with further focus on preventive action to maintain a healthy ageing process.

Objectives The current study aimed to validate and determine the psychometric properties of the Arabic versions of the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale (EPDS) in Qatar. Design A cross-sectional study design was employed. Setting Antenatal care (ANC) clinics at nine primary healthcare centres. Participants Pregnant women (n=128) aged 15–46 years in different trimesters of pregnancy, attending the ANC clinics as well as capable of reading and writing in the Arabic language. Results A total of 128 participants were enrolled. On conducting the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, the EPDS showed a larger area under the curve at 0.951 than the BDI-II tool (0.912). Using Youden’s index, a score >13 on the EPDS (87% sensitivity, 90% specificity) and >19 on the BDI-II (96% sensitivity, 73% specificity) allowed for the greatest division between depressed and non-depressed participants. Conclusion To address the under-recognition of antenatal depression, physicians at primary healthcare centres in Qatar should be encouraged to utilise the EPDS to screen pregnant women seeking ANC services.

Cumulative evidence suggests that early identification of anxiety in pregnancy is important, given that antenatal anxiety has been linked to morbid outcomes in expecting mothers and their offspring. However, the burden of antenatal anxiety is not yet known in Qatar. This research aims to measure the prevalence and determinants of generalized and pregnancy-related anxiety among pregnant women. Eight hundred pregnant women completed a structured interview and self-administrated questionnaires after being selected through probability sampling from nine primary healthcare centers distributed across Qatar. We subjected the data to Binary and Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis. Furthermore, we conducted a Confirmatory Factor Analysis for the utilized scales. Out of eight hundred participants, 26.5% reported high pregnancy-related anxiety, while 16.4% had a generalized anxiety disorder. A high level of perceived social support and resilience was shown to mitigate generalized and pregnancy-related anxiety. However, we revealed that different determinants influence the two types of anxiety. There is no recognized optimal cut-off point to distinguish ‘high risk’ in pregnancy-related anxiety scales. Pregnancy-related anxiety is more prevalent than generalized anxiety among pregnant women in Qatar, indicating that stakeholders must include screening for pregnancy-related anxiety in Qatar's clinical guidelines. Tailored interventional studies could focus on increasing resilience and social support to decrease the burden of antenatal anxiety.

Background: Screening for antenatal depression and its determinants is highly recommended. However, there is no consensus on a standard conceptual framework to approach pregnant women in a primary health care setting. The prevalence of antenatal depression and significant determinants are unknown in Qatar, a gap that we propose to fill.Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study with a probability sampling technique was employed. Enrolling eight-hundred participants from primary health care centers. The screening was performed through a valid and reliable screening instrument ‘Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale.’ In addition to the proposed Comprehensive Biopsychosocial Model, participants were asked about their predisposing profile, biological risk, and other suggested modifiable variables.Results: Twenty-one percent reported minor depressive episodes (n = 167, 20.9%) at a 95% confidence interval [18.2–23.8]. Previous use of mental health medications, fear of giving birth, concern about appearance, low perceived social support, and low resilience level showed to be associated with antenatal depression. The logistic regression analyses revealed that the Comprehensive Biopsychosocial model forecast 89% of antenatal depression predictors provided Area Under the Receiver Operating Characteristic Curve of 0.89 at a 95% confidence interval [0.85 to 0.92].Conclusions: Antenatal depression is common among pregnant women in Qatar, and preventive interventions must target the determinants revealed. From a clinical perspective, the use of the proposed model may aid in the standardization of the screening process.

Background: Health literacy is a vital strategy to consider when designing health-promoting programs, and health literacy is a priority in Qatar’s national health agenda. In the context of pregnancy, inadequate health literacy has been linked to several adverse outcomes among pregnant women such as unplanned conception, smoking, and lack of multi-vitamin intake. Given the paucity of data, this study aimed to assess the level of health literacy and its determinants among pregnant women in the State of Qatar. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional design was utilized. First, we piloted the measurement tools on 10% of the calculated sample size. Accordingly, the items of the measurement tools were revised. Next, we utilized a structured questionnaire to interview the participants about their socio-demographic characteristics, pregnancy-related factors, and the Newest Vital Sign Tool. A chi-square test was employed to investigate the association level among variables, with significance set to P < 0.05. A logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with a low literacy level. Results: We found that almost four in 10 pregnant women (n = 138,45.4%) had inadequate health literacy. Furthermore, the insufficient level of health literacy was significantly associated with low educational background, decreased household income, and primigravida. However, uncontrolled glycaemia was the only significant predictor of inadequate health literacy through logistic regression. The scale was found to be reliable, with a calculated Cronbach’s alpha of 0.8. Conclusions: Low health literacy is common among pregnant women in the State of Qatar. Thus, public health officials should focus on delivering tailored health literacy interventions to pregnant women in the country.

Introduction: TTobacco use has become a global health concern. Almost a third of the adolescents of the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) have reported tobacco use and the percentage is expected to rise in the future, making tobacco consumption a main public health issue among students,...