Audit of well-baby care in primary health care centers in Buraidah, Saudi Arabia

To evaluate the quality of utilization and documentation of the required process of well-baby care [WBC] visits and immunizations in primary health care centers [PHCCs]. Ten PHCCs were randomly selected. Of the average annual 7000 registered births, 350 children who had completed their fifth birthday were selected. All registered children who were born during 2 randomly selected months were included. Data were collected in Buraidah city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's PHCCs by the investigators from March to December 2005. Data were extracted from children's files, and well-baby and annual vaccination registers using a pre-designed form based on the Quality Assurance and Maternal and Child Health Care Manual of the Saudi Ministry of Health. Half of children were males, and most were Saudis. Pregnancy and delivery history were available in >90%, while that of neonatal history was available in 74.3%. Nutritional status was available in 96.3% of the files, but only 37.8% of them had the duration of breast feeding recorded. Number of children's visit to WBC clinics lessens as they grow older, >90% for infants, and less than one third for toddlers. Growth charts were completed in more than 90% of the files. All children completed the first year Expanded Program on Immunization schedule [up to date], and more than 75% of them were age-appropriately-immunized. The utilization level of WBC visits is lower than recommended. Careful well organized continuous field training of staff and parents' education programs are needed

Quality of primary care referral letters and feedback reports in Buraidah, Qassim region, Saudi Arabia

To evaluate the quality of referral letters and feedback reports written according to the standards of Quality Assurance Manual of Ministry of Health from primary health care centers [PHCC's] in Buraidah. This stwiy was conducted during October and November 2004. A total of 330 referral letters md feedback reports were randomly selected from six PHCCs [20% from PHCCs in Buraidah City], About 55 referral and feedback letters were selected from each PHCC by systematic sampling method. The referral letters and feedback reports were reviewed thoroughly for the main items required in Ideal referral letters and feedback reports according to the standard of Quality Assurance Manual of Ministry of Health, and a scoring system was used Many of the referral letters lacked such important information as the history in 36%, vital signs in 30% results of clinical examination in 45%, results of basic investigations in 52%, provisional diagnosis in 50% and treatment given in PHCCs in 47%. The legibility of referral letters ami feedback reports was good in 75% and 63% respectively, and the quality of referral letters and feedback reports was good in 63% and 39% respectively. The rate of feedback reports received by PHCCs was 30% of total number of referrals to the hospitals. The referral rate was [4%] from total number of patients seen m PHCCs, The most frequent reasons for referrals were for general treatment 36.7% for general diagnostic evaluation 28%, and far laboratory investigation 18.8%, the referral rate from PHCCs in Buraldah fell within the standard set in Quality. Assurance Manual However the quality of referral letters ami feedback reports was poor in 17.6% and 29.7% respectively. The quality of both referral letters and feedback reports should improve to guarantee the quality of patient care

Cigarette smoking behavior among male secondary school students in the central region of Saudi Arabia

This study was conducted to examine the smoking habits among male secondary school students in Al-Qassim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia [KSA] and to assess their knowledge and attitudes towards smoking. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Qassim region, KSA during March 2003. Randomly selected was 14 out of 110 government male secondary schools. In the sample section, care was taken to represent urban and rural communities. In urban areas, 8 schools with the largest number of students were selected. This is in addition to 3 schools, which were the only schools with special education on Islamic, Commercial and Technical programs. In the rural areas the 3 most distant schools were included in the sample. Data were obtained through self-administered questionnaires that contained questions on personal background, smoking behavior, knowledge and attitude towards cigarette smoking. A total of 2203 students responded to the questionnaires with 83% response rate. Of the studied group, 606 [29.8%] were current smokers and among these 83.7% started smoking at the age of 15 years or less. Technical and commercial secondary school students had higher prevalence of the habit of smoking than those in general and Islamic secondary schools. It was found that the more pocket money received by the students, the higher was the prevalence of smoking. The most common reason given for cigarette smoking behavior [CSB] was the influence of friends [63.5%]. Family factor, especially the brother's smoking habit [24.8%] was also important. Most of the students knew that smoking is harmful to their own health [89.3%], and to others [73.9%]. The association between smoking and lung cancer was 84.3%, 80.9% for chest disease and 78.2% for heart disease, while the relation to other diseases was less known. We conclude that onset of smoking in the young is alarming. This is of immense importance in formulating health education strategies, which should be directed towards pupils, teachers and parents. The religious aspect should also be an integral part of such programs