Samir Diouny
@fmd-uh2c.ac.ma
Casablanca School of Dental Medicine
Hassan II University of Casablanca
Dr. Samir DOUNY holds a bachelor degree in linguistics, an MA in Applied linguistics and a Ph.D. in neurolinguistics from the University of Hassan II in Morocco. Currently, He is a professor of psycholinguistics and neurolingustics at Casablanca School of Medical Dentistry in Morocco. Dr. Diouny was a visiting lecturer at the Laboratory of Jacques-Lordat and Brain Institute in Toulouse, France, and a Fulbright grantee on two occasions, once to read for a joint PhD program (1998-2000) and the second as a post-doctoral researcher (2007). He is a fellow member of the Moroccan Society of Neurology and the Clinical Neuroscience and Mental Health Laboratory at Casablanca School of Medicine and Pharmacy.
EDUCATION
2010 E-Course in Applied Linguistics, UMBA, USA
2005 Joint Ph.D Program. UNversity of Texas at Austion & Hassan II University,Mohammedia. Morocco. Linguistics.
1986 M.A. Durham University. UK. TESOL
1985 B.A. Hassan II University, Casablanca, Morocco. English language and Literature.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
• Neurolinguistics and language pathology
• Reading and spelling development
• Diglossia and language/reading acquisition in Arabic
• Developmental language and reading disorders
Scopus Publications
Scholar Citations
Scholar h-index
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Hassane Razkane, Adil Youssef Sayeh, Samir Diouny, and Mohamed Yeou
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Hassane Razkane, , Adil Youssef Sayeh, Samir Diouny, Mohamed Yeou, , , and
Modestum Ltd
Samir Diouny and Loubna El Ouardi
Informa UK Limited
Hassane Razkane and Samir Diouny
Informa UK Limited
Youssef Rami, Samir Diouny, Mohamed Yeou, and Najib Kissani
Informa UK Limited
INTRODUCTION
The ability to name pictures has been investigated widely in healthy people and clinical populations. The Object and Action Naming Battery (OANB) is widely used for psycholinguistic research, aphasia research, and clinical practice. Normative databases for pictorial stimuli have been conducted in language processing studies to control for various psycholinguistic variables known to affect the availability of picture names. The present study provides Moroccan Arabic norms for name agreement, familiarity, imageability, visual complexity, and age of acquisition for 100 line drawings of actions and 162 line drawings of objects taken from Druks and Masterson.
METHODS AND PROCEDURES
160 healthy Moroccan Arabic-speaking individuals participated in this study. Name agreement values for the OANB items were collected from forty subjects, followed by collecting data for the psycholinguistic variables: spoken-word frequency, imageability, visual complexity, and age of acquisition from 120 participants.
RESULTS
The Moroccan Arabic OANB (MA-OANB) comprises 70 objects and 60 action pictures. 77% of the nouns and 68% of the verbs obtained 100% target responses. A minimum of 93 percent name agreement was reached for the remaining items. Norms were also collected for the following psycholinguistic variables: spoken-word frequency, imageability, age of acquisition, and visual complexity.
CONCLUSION
The stimuli can be used for various psycholinguistic investigations and also for assessment and therapeutic purposes in Morocco.
Youssef Rami, Samir Diouny, Najib Kissani, and Mohamed Yeou
Informa UK Limited
INTRODUCTION
The Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) is widely used for dementia screening. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, to cross-culturally adapt the Moroccan Arabic version of MMSE (MA-MMSE) to screen dementia among literate and illiterate elderly Moroccans, and second to analyze its psychometric properties.
METHODS
The MA-MMSE was administered to 80 elderly patients, 28 were females and 52 were males. Among all the participants, 22 showed evidence of dementia. Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC), internal consistency, and test-retest reliability were investigated. The test-retest reliability was assessed by Spearman correlation analysis. Cronbach's α coefficients for internal consistency between total scores and subscores of the test were calculated.
RESULTS
Areas under the ROC curve in literate and illiterate elderly Moroccans participants corresponded to 0.932 and 0.936, respectively. The cutoff point of 21/22 on the MA-MMSE in literate elderly had the highest sensitivity (85.7%), specificity (94.7%), and a positive likelihood ratio of (16.29%), whereas the cutoff point of 18/19 of the screening test in illiterate elderly yielded the highest sensitivity (92.9%), specificity (95.0%), and a positive likelihood ratio of (18.57%). The Cronbach's α values of the MA-MMSE for literate and illiterate elderly Moroccans were higher than 0.7. Thirty subjects were randomly selected for participation in the test-retest protocol. Participants were retested after an interval of 4-6 weeks. The test-retest reliability for total scores was significant 0.78 (p < 0.01).
CONCLUSION
The findings provide preliminary evidence that the MA-MMSE is a feasible instrument for dementia screening.
Farid Bourzgui, Samir Diouny, Hadam Mkhantar, Zineb Serhier, and Mohamed Bennani Othmani
Hindawi Limited
Introduction. The malocclusion index questionnaire (MIQ) is widely used in research and clinical practice. To our knowledge, there are no studies of its use in Moroccan patients. Aim. The objective of this study was to translate and culturally adapt the malocclusion impact questionnaire (MIQ) into Moroccan Arabic and to assess its reliability and validity among a sample of young Moroccan teenagers. The PIDAQ was cross-culturally adapted into Malay version by forward- and backward-translation processes, followed by psychometric validation. Materials and Methods. The MIQ was cross-culturally adapted into Moroccan Arabic by forward- and backward-translation processes, followed by psychometric validations. The MIQ was completed by a representative sample of 94 Moroccan adolescents aged 12–17 years selected randomly from five public schools of Casablanca. Internal consistency reliability was determined from Cronbach’s alpha, and the intraclass coefficient of the item scores was obtained in 1 month in a subset of 30 subjects. Data were analyzed using the Statistical SPSS software, version 16.0, SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA. Results. The MIQ was completed twice by each participant at one-month interval to assess test reliability; the intraclass coefficient was r = 0.958, showing an excellent reproducibility. The internal consistency demonstrated the reliability of the questionnaire with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.917. The validity of the questionnaire was assessed by evaluation of the relationship between the total scores of the MIQ and normative need for orthodontic treatment according to ICON. The questionnaire showed an insignificant correlation (0.129, p<0.05). Conclusion. The Moroccan Arabic version of the MIQ was found to be reliable, whereas it has unacceptable validity according to ICON, and hence, it is unlikely to be a useful measure in orthodontic clinical trials for Moroccan adolescents.
Farid Bourzgui, Laila Lazrak, Zineb Serhier, Samir Diouny, and MohamedBennani Othmani
Medknow
Aims: This study aimed to cross-culturally translate and adapt the Child-Oral Impacts on Daily Performance (OIDP) measure into Moroccan Arabic and assess its reliability and validity. Materials and Methods: The original Child-OIDP was translated from English into Moroccan Arabic and back again. The Moroccan version of the Child-OIDP instrument was, then, validated on 11–14-year-old school children in Casablanca, Morocco, who responded to questions assessing their perceived oral problems. Results: The study revealed that the average score of Child-OIDP was 8.3 (standard deviation 8.7). Internal consistency was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.58; the testing-retesting procedures showed a satisfactory reproducibility (r = 0.93). The convergent validity was very satisfactory; the Child-OIDP score increased when the children had dental problems. The Child-OIDP score was able to discriminate the different sociodemographic groups. Conclusion: The study showed that the Moroccan version of the Child-OIDP had satisfactory psychometric properties, and is, therefore, a valid and reliable instrument.
F. Bourzgui, Z. Serhier, M. Sebbar, S. Diouny, M. Bennani Othmani, and P.I. Ngom
Elsevier BV
Objective The aims of this study were to translate and culturally adapt the PIDAQ native English version into Moroccan Arabic, and to assess the psychometric characteristics of the version thereby obtained. Materials and methods The PIDAQ original English version was sequentially subjected to translation into Moroccan Arabic, back-translation into English, committee review, and pre-testing in 30 subjects seeking orthodontic treatment. Results The final Moroccan Arabic version further underwent an analysis of psychometric properties on a random sample of 99 adult subjects (84 females and 15 males, aged 20.97 ± 1.10 years). The intraclass coefficient correlation of the scores of the responses obtained after administration of the questionnaire twice at a 1-month interval to a random sample of 30 subjects ranged from 0.63 for “Self-confidence” to 0.85 for “Social Impact”. Cronbach α coefficients ranging from 0.78 for “Aesthetic Concerns” to 0.87 for “Self-confidence” were obtained; the different subscales of the Moroccan Arabic version of the PIDAQ showed good correlation with the perception of aesthetics and orthodontic treatment need. Conclusion The results of the present study indicate that the Moroccan Arabic version of the PIDAQ obtained following thorough adaptation of the native form is both reliable and valid. It is able to capture self-perception of orthodontic aesthetic and treatment need and is consistent with normative need for orthodontic treatment.
Dalal Ben Loubir, Zeineb Serhier, Samir Diouny, Omar Battas, Mohamed Agoub, and Mohammed Bennani Othmani
Pan African Medical Journal
Introduction Recently, an important literature data has reported that medical students experience stress more than students in other disciplines. In contrast, there is a significant shortage of the stress impact on the academic performance. The primary purpose of our study was to determine the prevalence of stress among Casablanca Medical students and to investigate if there is an association between stress and academic skills. Methods A total of 275 participants studying at Casablanca Medical School were included. The study was conducted using a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire, which included four subscales on academic skills perception (Academic competence, Test competence, Time management and Strategic study habits) and a Test Anxiety scale to assess the degree of stress related to exams among medical students. Results The overall findings showed that 52.7% of respondents were stressed by examinations, and the highest stress prevalence was among the fifth-year medical students. Measures of comparative stress degrees between male and female students did not show any statistical significant differences (p=0.34). Correlation analysis revealed negative association between stress and academic competence (-0.394), test competence (-0.426), time management (-0.240), strategic study (-0.183) respectively (p<0.001). Conclusion Medical educators and psychologists have to increase clinical awareness of stress among medical students, by establishing strategies for stress management.
Ihssane Lembachar, Samir Diouny, Zineb Serhier, and Mohammed Bennani Othmani
IGI Global
In recent years, higher education has witnessed significant growth. This unprecedented phenomenon can be attributed to distance education through the application of ICTs. The purpose of this chapter is to bring into focus the experience of e-learning implementation at Casablanca Medical School and investigate learners' attitudes towards e-learning strategy. Of particular relevance to this study are the implementation of two e-learning projects, namely the “Digital Environment Work” (DEW), which allows medical students, faculty, and administrators to access information and online services, and the “@U-PEL 2010 program,” which was launched by Hassan II University in 2010 with a view to supporting holders of a comprehensive strategy for the development of e-learning institutions on the basis of clearly identified projects.
Farid Bourzgui, Hakima Aghoutan, and Samir Diouny
Hindawi Limited
The aim of this paper is to bring into focus the literature on the choice of the mandibular reference position in orthodontic treatment; of a particular reference to this paper is intercuspal position, centric relation position, or therapeutic position. To give a comprehensive account of the literature review on craniomandibular disorders (CMD), we have relied on books and articles using both Google Scholar and PubMed. Selection criteria included a combination of Mesh and type of article. Article classification was made by two authors, using the following structure outline: prevalence of craniomandibular disorders, its etiology and pathophysiology, occlusion and craniomandibular disorders, orthodontic treatment and CMD, and the mandibular reference position in orthodontics. An important conclusion that emerged from the present literature review is that CMD do not seem to be directly related to orthodontic treatment, and their appearance cannot be predicted or prevented by any means. Therefore, orthodontists must adopt a mandibular reference suitable to their patients and which best respects the balance existing in the stomatognathic system.
M. Bennani Othmani, S. Diouny, and O. Bouhaddou
Georg Thieme Verlag KG
Summary Objectives: Informatics is an essential tool for helping to transform healthcare from a paper-based to a digital sector. This article explores the state-of-the-art of health informatics in Morocco. Specifically, it aims to give a general overview of the Moroccan healthcare system, the challenges it is facing, and the efforts undertaken by the informatics community and Moroccan government in terms of education, research and practice to reform the country's health sector. Methods: Through the experience of establishing Medical Informatics as a medical specialty in 2008, creating a Moroccan Medical Informatics Association in 2010 and holding a first national congress took place in April 2012, the authors present their assessment of some important priorities for health informatics in Morocco. Results: These Moroccan initiatives are facilitating collaboration in education, research, and implementation of clinical information systems. In particular, the stakeholders have recognized the need for a national coordinator office and the development of a national framework for standards and interoperability. Conclusion: For developing countries like Morocco, new health IT approaches like mobile health and trans-media health advertising could help optimize scarce resources, improve access to rural areas and focus on the most prevalent health problems, optimizing health care access, quality, and cost for Morocco population.
M. Bennani Othmani, S. Diouny, and O. Boumalif
Informa UK Limited
ABSTRACT This study is a contribution to the ongoing debate on the application of informatics in medicine. It attempts to outline a theoretical framework supported by a software application of a telemedicine management system. The proposed model is based on a detailed benchmarking of Telecom environments, hardware environments, and content management systems. This approach, which uses open source technologies, helps to create an interface with two entities: web and medical care USB. In sum, for the proposed telemedicine model to be successful, health professionals, telecom operators and research medical informatics laboratories must play an active role in the conception and implementation of telemedicine applications.
Z. Serhier, T. Harzy, S. ELfakir, S. Diouny, K. El Rhazi, M. Bennani Othmani, L. R. Salmi, and C. Nejjari
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
The aim of this study was to adapt the knee and hip osteoarthritis quality of life questionnaire (OAKHQoL) into Moroccan Arabic and to determine its psychometric properties. After translation, back-translation and pretesting, the translated version was submitted to an expert committee. The psychometric properties were tested on patients with hip or knee osteoarthritis. Internal consistency was tested using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient (α), and the test–retest reliability using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Construct validity was assessed by examining item-convergent and divergent validity and by comparing the average scores between age groups and walk perimeter groups. The study was conducted on 131 patients (115 with osteoarthritis of the knee and 16 with osteoarthritis of the hip). The “physical activities” (α = 0.93), “mental health” (α = 0.84) and “pain” (α = 0.88) dimensions of the Arabic version were internally reliable. The ICC were adequate to good; 0.83 for “physical activities”, 0.65 for “mental health” and 0.70 for “pain” dimensions. The instrument demonstrated good construct validity; all items exceeded the 0.4 criterion for convergent validity, except items 13 and 41 and most of the correlations between items and their own scale were significantly higher than their correlations with other scales. A semantically equivalent translation has been developed with cultural adaptation of OAKHQoL. It is quite reliable and a valid measure of the effect of osteoarthritis on the quality of life on Moroccan patients.