Health education in the management of diabetes at the primary health care level: is there a gender difference?

We examined differences between male and female diabetic patients, as recipients of health education messages provided in a primary health care setting and its implications on the control of the disease. The files of 198 diabetic patients attending a diabetes clinic in Abha, Saudi Arabia were analysed. The results showed that females had significantly higher body mass index and fasting blood sugar levels than men with significantly fewer mean number of health education sessions in the last 12 months. Multiple logistic regression model pointed to the female sex as a significant predictor of poor glycaemic control. The model for females alone showed significantly poorer diabetes control when the number of health education sessions received was less

Knowledge and attitudes towards AIDS among Saudi and non-Saudi bus drivers

We explored the AIDS knowledge and attitudes of long-distance [non-Saudi] and in-city [Saudi] bus drivers in Saudi Arabia. The 69 non-Saudi drivers tended to score higher on knowledge than the 40 Saudi drivers although there were several gaps in their knowledge. As regards attitude, more Saudis knew that chastity could protect against AIDS and both groups tended to think that they were not the kind of people to get AIDS. Intensive health education and follow up is highly recommended for this sector of workers