Cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the Arabic version of oxford ankle foot questionnaire for children.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to translate and cross-culturally adapt the original English version of the Oxford Ankle Foot Questionnaire (OxAFQ-c) into the Arabic language, and to evaluate its psychometric properties among Arabic speaking children aged from 5 to 16 years in Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An Arabic OxAFQ-c for children was developed according to established guidelines (ISPOR). The Arabic OxAFQ-c version was completed by eighty-seven patients with foot and ankle problems and their caregivers. Construct validity of the Arabic OxAFQ-c was also examined. RESULTS: The reliability analysis of OxAFQ-Ar exhibited good internal consistency in both children's and parent's versions for all domains (α = 0.80-0.89) and excellent test-retest reliability in both versions for all domains. (ICC = 0.87-0.94). A moderate correlation between the OxAFQ-Ar and PedsQL 4.0 was observed indicating moderate construct validity. CONCLUSIONS: The OxAFQ-c was successfully translated and cross-cultural adapted into the Arabic language. The OxAFQ-Ar is a valid, reliable and useful quality of life questionnaire for evaluating children's ankle foot problems.IMPLICATION OF REHABILITATION OF OxAFQ-c ARABIC VERSIONThe Arabic version of the OxAFQ-c is an acceptable, clear and comprehensible outcome measure.The Arabic version of the OxAFQ-c demonstrated evidence supporting its internal consistency, test-retest reliability and construct validity as a measure to evaluate foot and ankle pathologies in patients aged 5-16 years.The Arabic OxAFQ-c has very good internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and acceptable measurement error with no floor and ceiling effects.The Arabic version of the OxAFQ-c can be used in daily clinical practice and in research studies to assess children aged from 5 to 16 years in Arabic speakers with ankle-foot conditions.

Awareness and Knowledge of Postoperative Surgical Site Infections in Patients from Saudi Arabia: A Multi-Regional Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Knowledge regarding surgical site infections (SSIs) can help reduce hospital stay, morbidity, and mortality associated with SSI. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the knowledge and awareness of SSI among patients undergoing surgeries across Saudi Arabia. Methods: This multi-center cross-sectional study included adult patients (aged >18 years) who underwent surgery at six centers located across the five regions of Saudi Arabia. A 36-item questionnaire was used to elicit data regarding demographics, patient's health status, procedures, and hospitalization history and awareness and knowledge about SSIs. Results: A total of 375 patients were included (equally for all five regions of Saudi Arabia). Most patients were male (55.7%) and aged 18-34 years (44%). Most respondents (49.1%) had poor awareness; being illiterate and from the Northern region were significant factors (P = 0.001). Patients with no history of surgery (P = 0.001) or SSI (P = 0.003) also had poor awareness levels. In terms of knowledge, 45.8% and 35.2% of the participants had fair and poor knowledge, respectively, with the level of knowledge being significantly associated with region (P = 0.001). Patients those aged >65 years had poor knowledge (P = 0.033), while of males had good knowledge (P = 0.02). Patients with no history of surgery had poor knowledge of SSIs (P = 0.003). Only 32.8% of the patients recalled having been educated by healthcare workers. About 42% learned of SSIs from sources outside the hospital, with internet/social media platforms accounting for 48.4% of such sources. Conclusion: A significant proportion of the patients included in this study had poor awareness and knowledge of SSIs. The study highlights the need for strengthening the preoperative patient education in Saudi Arabia to reduce the likeliness of SSIs.

Brucellosis accompanied by haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis and multiple splenic abscesses in a patient with depression.

A 39-year-old woman was being treated for depression in our clinic. She subsequently developed a fever and was diagnosed with pancytopenia and moderate splenomegaly. Laboratory and bone marrow results, including markedly increased serum ferritin levels, suggested haemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. CT showed multiple splenic abscesses and ovarian vein thrombosis. All laboratory values returned to normal after treatment for culture-positive brucellosis.

A mobile diabetes management and educational system for type-2 diabetics in Saudi Arabia (SAED).

BACKGROUND: Diabetes is a chronic disease, with high prevalence across many nations, which is characterized by elevated level of blood glucose and risk of acute and chronic complication. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has one of the highest levels of diabetes prevalence globally. It is well-known that the treatment of diabetes is complex process and requires both lifestyle change and clear pharmacologic treatment plan. To avoid the complication from diabetes, the effective behavioural change and extensive education and self-management is one of the key approaches to alleviate such complications. However, this process is lengthy and expensive. The recent studies on the user of smart phone technologies for diabetes self-management have proven to be an effective tool in controlling hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels especially in type-2 diabetic (T2D) patients. However, to date no reported study addressed the effectiveness of this approach in the in Saudi patients. This study investigates the impact of using mobile health technologies for the self-management of diabetes in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: In this study, an intelligent mobile diabetes management system (SAED), tailored for T2D patients in KSA was developed. A pilot study of the SAED system was conducted in Saudi Arabia with 20 diabetic patients for 6 months duration. The patients were randomly categorized into a control group who did not use the SAED system and an intervention group whom used the SAED system for their diabetes management during this period. At the end of the follow-up period, the HbA1c levels in the patients in both groups were measure together with a diabetes knowledge test was also conducted to test the diabetes awareness of the patients. RESULTS: The results of SAED pilot study showed that the patients in the intervention group were able to significantly decrease their HbA1c levels compared to the control group. The SAED system also enhanced the diabetes awareness amongst the patients in the intervention group during the trial period. These outcomes confirm the global studies on the effectiveness of smart phone technologies in diabetes management. The significance of the study is that this was one of the first such studies conducted on Saudi patients and of their acceptance for such technology in their diabetes self-management treatment plans. CONCLUSIONS: The pilot study of the SAED system showed that a mobile health technology can significantly improve the HbA1C levels among Saudi diabetic and improve their disease management plans. The SAED system can also be an effective and low-cost solution in improving the quality of life of diabetic patients in the Kingdom considering the high level of prevalence and the increasing economic burden of this disease.