Medacta (United States)

IntroductionPeople in the Gaza Strip have been denied food and medical care through war and displacement since October 2023, introducing the risk of famine in the region. We sought to estimate the proportion of children assessed in nutritional centres with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) and severe acute malnutrition (SAM) in the Gaza Strip during this war.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional analysis of nutritional assessments for children up to 5 years old in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, from May 2024 to November 2024. We used de-identified data from humanitarian relief clinics to determine the proportion of MAM and SAM. We defined SAM as weight-for-length Z score <−3. For children above 6 months, we additionally used mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) <11.5 cm to identify SAM. We defined MAM as weight-for-height Z-score between –2 and −3, or MUAC 11.5–12.4 cm. We used logistic regression to determine factors associated with acute malnutrition.ResultsOf 22 901 children (49.6% girls; 12.0% in North Gaza), there were 2042 (8.92%, 95% CI 8.56% to 9.28%) children diagnosed with SAM or MAM during the study period. SAM was higher in North Gaza/Gaza City than in South/Middle Gaza (15.7% vs 0.4%, p<0.001). In North Gaza/ Gaza City, SAM was associated with having a deceased father (adjusted OR 1.97, 95% CI 1.24 to 3.06) and in children <6 months (adjusted OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.15 to 2.96). The prevalence of SAM decreased in North Gaza/Gaza City during this study period.ConclusionA high proportion of children under 5 years old had evidence of SAM or MAM, particularly in North Gaza and Gaza City, which has been subjected to more intense bombings and restrictions in aid. Cessation of hostilities and resumption of humanitarian aid relief is urgently needed for children in Gaza.

Although women now constitute approximately half of all graduating medical students, orthopaedic surgery continues to lag behind in its ability to recruit female applicants. One hypothesis for this discrepancy is the lack of female faculty mentors at academic institutions. The three objectives of this study were the following: (1) to quantify the proportion of female orthopaedic surgery residency applicants, (2) to quantify the proportion of female orthopaedic surgery faculty, and (3) to investigate the relationship between female orthopaedic surgery faculty at an academic institution and the corresponding number of female orthopaedic surgery residency applicants. Data from the Association of American Medical Colleges from 2005 to 2014 were used to calculate the number of medical school graduates, the number of orthopaedic surgery residency applicants, and the number of orthopaedic full-time faculty in the United States. Institutions were excluded if they had incomplete data. A Spearman rank correlation was used to assess for a correlation between the 9-year total number of female orthopaedic surgery applicants and the average number of female orthopaedic surgery faculty members. A total of 101 U.S. medical schools were included in the final analysis. During the period examined, women accounted for 48.7% of medical school graduates, 14.9% of orthopaedic surgery applicants, and 13.2% of full-time orthopaedic surgery faculty. The percentage of female residency applicants increased from 13.91% in 2005 to 2006 to 16.02% in 2013 to 2014 while the percentage of female faculty increased from 12.26% in 2005 to 2006 to 15.79% in 2013 to 2014. No correlation was found between the average number of female orthopaedic surgery faculty at an institution and the total number of female orthopaedic surgery applicants from that institution during the study period examined (Rho, 0.0176; P = 0.5957). The data presented in this study failed to demonstrate a relationship between the number of female faculty and the number of women who apply into orthopaedic surgery, which highlights the complex nature of this issue. More research is needed to examine factors influencing the recruitment of female medical students.