ABSTRACT
Background: Depression is on the rise globally and is associated with a high rate of mortality, morbidity, and suicide
Objective: To evaluate depression and associated risk factors among patients visiting primary healthcare centers in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
Subjects and Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia during the period from June 2016 to July 2017, 560 participants were recruited from primary health care centers by a stratified sampling technique. Participants were invited to sign a written informed consent, then interviewed using the PHQ-9 questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions with four choices each and asking about interest or pleasure in doing things, feeling down or hopeless, the pattern of sleep, tiredness, appetite, the degree of movement or speaking, concentration, or thought of better dead off or hurting self. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS] was used for data analysis and the ethical committee of the Medical College, the University of Tabuk approved the research
Results: Participants [61.2% females], 63.9% were in the range of 18 and 24 years; the majority had higher education, nearly two thirds 66.3% were single. Mild depression was evident in 21.6%, moderate depression in 21.3%, while 4.1% had severe depression. Women had more depression than men with a significant statistical difference [P-value<0.05, no differences in severity of depression was found regarding age, and marital status [P-value>0.05]
Conclusion: Depression is prevalent among patients attending primary healthcare centers in Tabuk and was commoner among females. No relationship was observed between depression severity, marital status, and age
ABSTRACT
Background: assessing of the population's awareness concerning eye diseases would provide a fundamental basis and acts as a future reference to executing such health promotion initiatives
Objective: this study aimed to evaluate the public awareness and attitudes towards common eye diseases in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
Materials and methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia during the period from June 2017 to December 2017. A convenient sample of 397 participants of adults aged above 18 years old was chosen by a stratified method. A self-administered online survey included multiple choice and true-false questions was used to obtain information about respondent's awareness regarding common eye diseases including cataract, refractive errors, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy
Results: 77.6% of participants were females, 41.4% were between 18 and 25 years, 52% of the respondents had sufficient knowledge regarding common eye problems. The most frequent sources of information were the internet [46.7%], relatives [38.5%] and mass media [35.4%]. The participant's knowledge ranged from 66.3%for the cataract to 36.3% for refractive errors. Only educational level and job were significantly associated with knowledge about refractive errors. The majority of the respondents [75%] reported visiting ophthalmologists only when they have complaints and just 10% of them visited ophthalmologists regularly. When they had eye problems, almost two-thirds visited the ophthalmologist directly whereas 9% and 7.4% of them did nothing or depended on home therapy, respectively
Conclusion: awareness and knowledge of adult population in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia is suboptimal. Health education campaigns are needed to improve their knowledge and protect them them from adverse complications of these diseases
ABSTRACT
Background: Assessing of the population's awareness concerning eye diseases would provide a fundamental basis and acts as a future reference to execute health promotion initiatives
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the public awareness and attitudes towards common eye diseases in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia during the period from June 2017 to December 2017. A convenient sample of 397 participants of adults aged above 18 years old was chosen by a stratified method. A self-administered online survey included multiple choice and true-false questions was used to obtain information about respondent's awareness regarding common eye diseases including cataract, refractive errors, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy
Results: 77.6% of participants were females, 41.4% were between 18 and 25 years, 52% of the respondents had sufficient knowledge regarding common eye problems. The most frequent sources of information were the internet [46.7%], relatives [38.5%] and mass media [35.4%]. The participant's knowledge ranged from 66.3% for the cataract to 36.3% for refractive errors. Only educational level and job were significantly associated with knowledge about refractive errors. The majority of the respondents [75%] reported visiting ophthalmologists only when they have complaints and just 10% of them visited ophthalmologists regularly. When they had eye problems, almost two-thirds visited the ophthalmologist directly whereas 9% and 7.4% of them did nothing or depended on home therapy, respectively
Conclusion: Awareness and knowledge of adult population in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia is suboptimal. Health education campaigns are needed to improve their knowledge and protect them from adverse complications of these diseases
ABSTRACT
Background: There is increasing awareness about the effects of chronotype and sleep quality and academic performance among medical students
The aim of the work: This study assessed the relationship between chronotype, sleep quality, and academic performance among Saudi medical students
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among169 clinical phase medical students during the period from May 2017 to January 2018. Participants were invited to sign a written informed consent then responded to a self-administered questionnaire, using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index [PSQI] and the weekdays and weekends bedtime and wake-up time, the chronotype was calculated from mid-sleep and wake up time during weekends and sleep dept. Students also completed a diary detailing their sleep habits for two weeks prior to filling out the questionnaire. The chi-square and Pearson's correlation were used for the statistical analysis
Results: Participants [48.5% males], their meanage was 22.90+/-1.27, 83.4% had poor sleep quality. No correlation was found between cumulative grades [GPA], sleep quality, chronotype, body mass index, and sleep duration during weekdays and weekends [p>0.005], the females medical students had good sleep quality and lower body mass index, were more likely morning chronotype, and had higher GPA compared to males
Conclusion: No correlation was evident between the GPA, chronotype, and sleep quality. The women had better sleep quality and GPA, they were more likely morning chronotype and had lower body mass index
ABSTRACT
Background: Medical students are at high risk of hepatitis B during their training, and are expected to be future doctors to acquire proper knowledge and attitude about the virus
The aim of the work: The present study aimed at assessing knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding hepatitis B virus among Saudi medical students
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study conducted among 147 clinical phase medical students during the period from may 2017 to April 2017. A self-administered questionnaire [five components and 46 choice questions with yes/no or yes/no/don't know] was used to assess knowledge [16 queries], attitude [18 items], symptoms and signs [6 questions], prevention [4 questions], and treatment [two issues]. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences [IBM, SPSS, version 20, New York] was used for data analysis. The data were presented as percentages and mean+/- SD unless otherwise specified. A P-value of <0.05 was considered significant
Results: Out of 147 medical students [51% males], their age was 22.90+/-1.2 years, the student's overall knowledge was 70.54+/-26.51%, the knowledge regarding symptoms and complications was 83.9+/-9.11%, while the prevention, treatment, and attitude scores were 67.17+/-20.96%, 51.7+/-32.66%, and 53.52+/-26.11% respectively
Conclusion: The students in Tabuk had a negative attitude towards hepatitis B virus in spite of the fair knowledge, their knowledge regarding the virus prevention and treatment were suboptimal