ABSTRACT
Although growth charts are recommended for monitoring children, recent reports indicate poor use by mothers. We investigated maternal knowledge and perceptions of growth charts and identified characteristics affecting use. At outpatient paediatric clinics of a Riyadh hospital, 305 mothers with children under age 5 were interviewed by questionnaire during May-June 2001. Overall awareness of growth charts was 35.8% and ever-use was 8.6%. Education, parity and number of living children were significantly associated with knowledge. Among mothers who ever used growth charts [8.7%], only 10% reported doctors recommended changes in health care because of them. Overall, 71% wanted to monitor their child's growth, but 20% did not know how. Increased health education in all health care delivery systems is needed
Subject(s)
Child , Female , Humans , Infant , Anthropometry/methods , Attitude to Health , Child, Preschool , Educational Status , Mothers/education , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Hospitals, Teaching , Infant, Newborn , Maternal Age , Outpatient Clinics, HospitalABSTRACT
The attitude and beliefs of primary health care physicians regarding periodic health evaluation is critical to determining the most effective and acceptable means for delivering recommended clinical preventive services. We aimed to evaluate the views of primary health care physicians in Saudi Arabia on periodic health evaluation. A self-administered and pre-tested questionnaire was sent to 1235 physicians randomly selected throughout the country. About 90% of the physicians would recommend periodic health evaluations to all or some clients while 10% would not. Almost all [95%] of the physicians were aware of the benefits and costs of periodic health examinations, and were willing to carry it out. Their enthusiasm for performing many items during examinations should be encouraged
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Preventive Medicine , Physicians, Family , Primary Health Care , Attitude of Health PersonnelABSTRACT
Adequate child-spacing is considered a positive factor in the health of mothers and their children. A house-to-house survey of 332 women in Al-Oyaynah village, Saudi Arabia was carried out in April and May of 1995 to determine the existing practice of child-spacing and factors influencing it. The variables examined included age of the mother, age at marriage, education, income, parity, type of infant-feeding and birth order. The age of the mother, age at marriage and education were significantly associated with the length of the birth interval. The current age of mother and her parity were found to be the only significant predictor variables of birth interval
Subject(s)
Adult , Female , Humans , Bottle Feeding/psychology , Breast Feeding/psychology , Cross-Sectional Studies , Educational Status , Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Marriage/psychology , Maternal Age , Mothers/education , Surveys and Questionnaires , Rural Health/statistics & numerical data , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
Substance abuse is a recently acknowledged problem in Saudi Arabia. Sociodemographic correlates of substance abuse and relapse rates of a sample of inpatients at Al-Amal Hospital in Riyadh in 1998 were studied. The mean age of patients was 29.5 years with a mean duration of abuse of 9.5 years. Age, unemployment, peer pressure and family and social stresses were factors that showed statistically significant associations with repeat admissions. The most significant predictors of a patient's relapse were unemployment and social stresses. More nation-wide studies are needed to document factors leading to the initiation and continuation of substance abuse and to help treatment and rehabilitative measures