ABSTRACT
Background: Down syndrome [DS] is a chromosomal disorder that results in intellectual disability and growth problems. The worldwide incidence of this syndrome is 1 in 1000 births and increases exponentially with the maternal age. People with DS usually have reduced life expectancy and suffer from mental retardation, heart problems, Alzheimer's disease among other complications. However, the severity of the disease differs from patient to patient. Perceptions of the disease and the public attitudes towards people with Down syndrome are very important in the inclusion of these people in the community and the supporting families
Objectives: to assess the level of awareness, attitude and practice toward Down syndrome in Jeddah city to identify barriers
Methods: a cross-sectional analytical questionnaire-based study among the general population of Jeddah city
Results: a total of 360 subjects answered the questionnaires. The mean age was 36 years, it ranged from 16 to 70, with 45.2% females and 43.7% male respondents. Of these, 67% had attended college, 5% had a postgraduate degree, 23.5% had completed high school, and 3.1% had basic school. The majority of participants had a high level of monthly income [38%]. The majority of subjects included in the research were [59.6%] married and [51.3%] were unemployed. Most subjects [338] had poor knowledge about Down syndrome and there was no association between the knowledge and demographics of participants except for education at the higher levels of education, the more significant association with good knowledge
Conclusion: The results of the present study reveal that the knowledge about the Down syndrome was poor among the studied population. Also, education significantly impacts the knowledge of Down syndrome, thus there is a need for providing the population and patients with the necessary information to improve their Down syndrome awareness
ABSTRACT
Background: obesity is associated with increased mortality and morbidity. The use of bariatric surgery has recently increased dramatically in order to lose weight fast; however, the heavy consequences and the long-term weight loss induced by bariatric surgery has favorable effects on life span remains unclear
Aim of Study: This study was aimed to explore knowledge and beliefs about safety, effectiveness and consequences of bariatric surgeries among community population in Jeddah city and to evaluate the role of demographic factors in shaping those beliefs, and assess possible associations between demographic characteristics with lose weight preventive behavior
Patients and methods: This study was done in 2016 and carried out among a sample of 474 citizens, of them 70.1% women and 29.9% men. The mean age of citizens was 35.77. To assess citizens' demographic factors, risk factors of obesity and beliefs about bariatric surgeries, consenting citizens responded to an anonymous online questionnaire. The data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Data were entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS, version 20] and descriptive analysis conducted
Results: the results of the current study show that among the respondents, [24.5%] were obese, [13.7%] severely obese and [9.3%] were morbid obese. The majority of them believed that the lack of exercise is the cause of their obesity [45.7%], [71% ] of the respondents think that genetics play a role in obesity, [69.3%] of respondents have someone in their family who suffers from obesity and [61.6%] were not keen to exercise. The majority of respondents [77.4%] think that weight loss procedures contribute to weight loss, however [69.8%] are not of favor towards weight loss procedures to get rid of obesity, [63.4%] of them have not undergone any surgery, and [86.6%] of the respondents do not think of surgeries as their first choice to lose weight without exercise or diet, also [71.0%] think that weight loss procedures and its complications may lead to death. The majority of the respondents [74%] have inadequate beliefs about bariatric surgery and [50.8%] of the respondents have good knowledge on prevention behavior of obesity