Practice of ear candling during lockdown due to COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: Cerumen production is a protective process for the ear canal. Cerumen impaction causes unpleasant symptoms. There are various cerumen removal practices. These include irrigation, application of softeners/solvents, mechanical removal, and micro-suction. However, during the lockdown period of the COVID-19 pandemic, some patients opted for some procedures, such as ear candling, which are not evidence-based. This study aimed to explore the awareness of ear candling among otolaryngology doctors and record cases with complications of such practice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. A questionnaire was developed after an extensive literature search, and distributed to otolaryngology residents, fellows, and consultants of different hospitals across the country. A total of 80 respondents agreed to participate in the study. Results: A total of 16 doctors reported seeing cases of ear candling, of which 13 patients had different complications, of which ear pain was the most commonly reported. The majority of participants (42.5%) thought the lack of medical access during lockdown enhanced the practice of alternative medicine for ear-related complaints in society compared to 35% of participants who had a neutral response regarding this idea and 22.5% who disagreed. Conclusions: Although the practice of ear candling is not widely spread in KSA, different types of ear complications were recorded by the otolaryngologist. We would like to encourage the doctors to report such complications, especially after the lockdown period.

The Effect of the COVID-19 Vaccine on the Menstrual Cycle Among Reproductive-Aged Females in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: A global concern about a possible association between COVID-19 vaccines and menstrual disturbance has been raised. Moreover, women who have experienced menstrual changes are worried about the length of the side effects and are hesitant to receive booster doses. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 vaccine on all features of the menstrual cycle, including cycle length, amount of bleeding, and pain. METHODOLOGY: We retrospectively analyzed menstrual cycles following at least two doses of COVID-19 vaccines; the cycle changes within the individual pre-vaccination and post-vaccination were compared. All reproductive-aged females from 18 to 45 years who fit the inclusion criteria were included in the study and categorized into five sub-categories based on age to investigate whether certain age groups were most affected. The data were collected through a well-structured self-administered questionnaire. Participants obtained their vaccination information (date, type of vaccine) from Tawakkalna, the official COVID-19 application in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. IBM Corp. Released 2019. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp was performed in data entry and statistical analysis. Variables were described as frequency and percentage, as all were categorical. To investigate the association between menstrual changes and its possible associated factors, we used the Chi-square test, and the statistical significance was determined at p<0.05. RESULTS: The online questionnaire received responses from a total of 1092 reproductive females. However, out of which, 419 were not fitting into the inclusion criteria. Thus, a total of 673 females were included in the final report. Overall, the changes in the menstrual cycles after both COVID-19 vaccine doses were observed among 46.7%, mainly more menstrual pain in 22.9% following the first dose compared with 21.4% after the second. Menstrual changes were observed among almost two-thirds of women in the age groups 18-22 years (65.2%) and 38-45 years (65.4%) compared with only 43.5% of those in the age group 23-27 years, p<0.001. The Moderna vaccine was associated with the highest rate of menstrual changes (65.4%), whereas Oxford-AstraZeneca was associated with the lowest rate (44.9%), p=0.040. The duration of changes in the cycles after the COVID-19 vaccine (one dose or both) was less than one month among 42.5% of females, whereas it was three months or more among 27.1%. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 vaccination is associated with a minor and transient change in the menstrual cycle, resulting mainly more menstrual pain and increased bleeding.

IMPACTS OF REMOTE LEARNING TO STUDENTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN NEPAL

The COVID-19 pandemic has immensely disrupted many aspects of human life. Education is not immune to it, rather affected drastically by urging to shift online immediately, wherever possible. Resource-constrained countries were more challenged by this crisis, as higher education institutions are predominantly operated in the traditional classroom settings. With such an abrupt transition to remote teaching and learning with limited resources, both teachers and students have accelerated in gaining new knowledge and adopted the technology gracefully. This study extends our previous work in exploring the facilitating and the inhibiting factors by teachers during remote learning processes to see how students at the receiving end, experienced the journey. By using a mixed method, students' experience during the remote learning is explored. While returning to the normal mode of teaching post-pandemic, this study suggested that students would prefer to continue some aspects of online tools and embrace blended learning. © Proceedings of the 2021 AIS SIGED International Conference on Information Systems Education and Research.