Maha Emad Ibrahim

• PhD Rheumatology & Rehabilitation
• Assistant Professor at Suez Canal University

Background Our understanding of osteoarthritis (OA) has evolved from a degenerative disease to one in which low-grade, chronic inflammation plays a central role. In addition, evidence suggests that OA is accompanied by both peripheral and central nervous system sensitization that can cause pain. It has been demonstrated that transcutaneous vagus ne...

Background Spinal cord injury (SCI) is one of the most catastrophic injuries that might lead to permanent use of a wheelchair and severely affects the quality of life, hence SCI patients report lower satisfaction with life (SWL) than the general population. Therefore, it is important to identify factors that determine SWL among wheelchair users wit...

Problem: Investigations regarding perceptions of the institutional research integrity climate in the Arab Middle East remain underexplored. Subjects: We surveyed faculty from three Egyptian universities. Method: We utilized the Survey of Organizational Research Climate (SOuRCe) tool, which incorporates seven subscales that measure different aspects...

Background Workplace factors are important predictors of occurrence of musculoskeletal pain among different occupational populations. In healthcare, a psychologically unsafe work environment can negatively affect the emotional, physical and psychological well-being of physicians. This study aimed to examine the relationship between workplace violen...

Background Rheumatic disease (RD) patients are liable for severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). It is noticeable that RD patients’ practices have changed during the late COVID-19 pandemic. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and compliance of RD patients during the late pandemic. Results This study included 188 pa...

Members of research ethics committees (RECs) face a number of ethical challenges when reviewing genomic research. These include issues regarding the content and type of consent, the return of individual research results, mechanisms of sharing specimens and health data, and appropriate community engagement efforts. This article presents the findings...

Background Pain in osteoarthritis (OA) has been attributed traditionally to local tissue injury causing ‘nociceptive pain’. However, recent studies suggest that neuropathic and central sensitization mechanisms may contribute to the pain experience. However, the relationship between these pain mechanisms and physical function has not been thoroughly...

Background We no longer consider Osteoarthritis (OA) as a degenerative disease, but rather as a multifactorial disorder in which low grade, chronic inflammation has a central role. In addition, evidence points to the presence of both peripheral and central nervous system sensitization as sources of pain in OA. Transcutaneous Vagus Nerve Stimulation...

Background: The recent expansion of genomic biobank research in the Arab region in the Middle East North Africa has raised complex ethical and regulatory issues. However, there is a lack of studies regarding the views of Arab researchers involved in such research. We aimed to assess the perceptions and attitudes of Arab researchers regarding these...

To depict the spectrum of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Egypt in relation to other universal studies to provide broad-based characteristics to this particular population. This work included 10,364 adult RA patients from 26 specialized Egyptian rheumatology centers representing 22 major cities all over the country. The demographic and clinical featur...

To depict the spectrum of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in Egypt in relation to other universal studies to provide broad-based characteristics to this particular population. This work included 10,364 adult RA patients from 26 specialized Egyptian rheumatology centers representing 22 major cities all over the country. The demographic and clinical featur...

Background Workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers is a common occurrence worldwide, especially among young physicians and medical residents. This study aimed to explore the negative health impacts of WPV among medical residents in Egypt, and their perception regarding how safe it is to report violence. Purpose To investigate the preva...

Background Chronic back pain is a common health complaint among university students. A subset of chronic back pain patients suffer from increased pain sensitivity, a process termed central sensitization. Chronic pain is also associated with cognitive dysfunction, involving attention, memory, and learning. Those are key features of adult attention d...

Population-based genomics studies have proven successful in identifying genetic variants associated with diseases. High-quality biospecimens linked with informative health data from diverse segments of the population have made such research possible. However, the success of biobank research depends on the willingness of the public to participate in...

Background Biobanks have recently been established in several low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in the Arab region of the Middle East. We aimed to explore the views of biobank managers regarding the challenges, ethical issues, and governance arrangements of their biobanks. Methods In-depth semi-structured qualitative interviews were conduct...

Background: Methotrexate (MTX) is one of the most common medications used for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) treatment. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) could potentially predict variability in therapeutic outcomes. Aim: This study aims to assess the impact of SNPs in genes encoding for the MTX pathway for predicting clinical and therapeutic re...

Background Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is characterized by insulin resistance, high blood pressure/sugar, dyslipidemia, and obesity. Whether MetS and its components affect the development of Behçet's Disease (BD) remains unclear. Aims The aim was to determine the frequency of MetS among BD patients and to study its relation to the disease characteri...

The study aimed to explore the experience of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection and vaccine adverse events (AEs) among rheumatologists. A validated questionnaire was distributed as a Google form to rheumatologists across the country via social networking sites from late December 2021 till early January 2022. The questionnaire included qu...

Population-based genomics studies have proven successful in identifying genetic variants associated with diseases. High-quality biospecimens linked with informative health data have made such studies possible. However, the success of biobanks depends on the willingness of the public to participate in biobank research. We aimed to explore the views...

Adipokines were shown to exert crucial roles in rheumatic diseases. This study aimed to assess the role of chemerin, apelin, vaspin, and omentin adipokines and their genetic variants rs17173608, rs2235306, rs2236242, and rs2274907, respectively, in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) pathogenesis in Egyptian patients. A total of 150 RA patients and 150 healt...

Objectives The aim of the present work was to explore the perspectives of Egyptian Rheumatology staff members as regards the coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) vaccine. Methods The survey is composed of 25 questions. Some questions were adapted from the global rheumatology alliance COVID-19 survey for patients. Results 187 rheumatology staff membe...

Background: Assessing the public perspectives regarding donation of biospecimens to biobanks would be helpful with the establishment of biobanks in the Arab region. Objective: To develop a biobanking questionnaire in Arabic and assess its psychometric properties. Design: Multicenter cross-sectional study. Methods: We used a two-step process for que...

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been recognized as a pandemic by the World Health Organization. Global efforts have been exerted to prevent the spreading of the disease through political decisions together with personal behaviors, which depend on awareness of the public. The goal of this study is to assess the knowledge, perceptions and att...

Aim of the work To assess knowledge of Egyptian family physicians about the diagnostic criteria and treatment modalities of fibromyalgia. Subjects and methods A questionnaire and an informed consent were sent by email to family physicians working in primary health care centers in Egypt. The questionnaire assessed 3 areas: sociodemographic and prof...

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a joint destructive disorder. This study aimed to assess lncRNA MEG3 expression and its variant rs941576 in Egyptian patients with RA. Subjects and methods: 100 RA patients and 100 healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. Quantitative PCR was used for expression analysis and allelic discrimination tec...

Background: Back pain is one of the most common health complaints among university students. A subset of people suffering from chronic back pain exhibit features of increased pain sensitivity and altered pain processing, suggesting central sensitization (CS) to pain1. The mechanisms behind these processes are, to date, not fully understood2. Eviden...

Purpose: To assess the association of back pain and treatment-seeking behavior for such pain with work-related emotional burden (regret about care), regret coping strategies, and physical burden among newly practicing nurses. Methods: We used data from the Impact of Care-related Regret Upon Sleep (ICARUS) cohort collected between 05.2017 and 07....

Purpose Physical dysfunction in chronic low back pain patients is influenced by psychological variables rather than by pain severity. Assessing personality traits may help clinicians address the complexity of patients’ experiences and design treatments that target these vulnerabilities. This study aimed to identify the distinguishing personality tr...

Background: Long intergenic non-protein coding (lnc) RNA 00305 (LINC00305) is a pro-inflammatory atherosclerosis-associated lncRNA. We hypothesised that LINC00305 expression and its variant rs2850711 (A/T) are implicated in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and linked with clinical and routine laboratory markers. Methods: 100 RA patients and 100 healthy co...

Objective To assess the short-term efficacy of ultrasound guided caudal epidural steroid injections (ESIs) in improving pain, and nerve function as measured by electrophysiological testing in chronic radicular low back pain. Methods Patients diagnosed with chronic radicular low back pain were randomized into one of two groups. The Injection group...

Background: Chronic low back pain (LBP) is a leading cause of disability worldwide. Biopsychosocial rehabilitation programs have been advocated for its management, especially since the widespread acceptance of the biopsychosocial model of chronic pain. Despite extensive evidence of its short-term benefits, few studies have reported on its long-ter...

Background Chronic back pain is a multifactorial condition, which cannot be thoroughly addressed without understanding the psychological factors that influence its onset, maintenance and the response to its management. Patient attitudes and personality traits often determine how they experience pain, how they adjust to it, and their response to the...

This randomized controlled study was designed to compare the effectiveness of local injection of autologous platelet rich plasma (PRP) and local steroid in reducing pain and improving function in a cohort of patients with tennis elbow (TE) and plantar fasciitis (PF).Patients and methodsThe study population comprised two groups; Group 1 patients wit...