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Background: Physicians are more likely to examine children than dentists; thus, they may have a significant role in detecting oral and dentofacial problems. This study aimed to determine the rate and comprehensiveness of examinations, the rate and quality of referral practices, and the predictors of referral practice of physicians regarding orthodontic problems among children. Methods: In a multi-center cross-sectional study, a total of 518 physicians in Saudi Arabia were subjected to an e-questionnaire of four sections: (1) Physicians' demographic and work-related characteristics; (2) Physicians' comprehensiveness of oral and orthodontic examinations; (3) Physicians' referral practices to orthodontists and reasons considered for referral; and (4) Physicians' sources of orthodontic education. Logistic regression analysis was applied to identify the significant predictors of referral practice. The significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Most physicians reported partial oral (78.5%) and orthodontic (72.2%) examinations, while the full examination was reported by only 12% and 2.5% of physicians, respectively. Referral to orthodontists was practiced by most of the physicians (83.8%), yet for the majority of them, the quality of referral was poor (40.3%) or fair (46.1%), with only 13.6% who practiced quality referral. Dental development issues (53.3%) and functional issues (51.5%) were reported as the main reasons for referral, followed by family/patient request (42.9%), dental alignment (42.5%), oral respiratory issues (32.4%), and finally jaw relation (26.1%). Referral practice was predicted by the comprehensive oral (OR = 2.37, p = 0.007) and orthodontic (OR = 4.26, p < 0.001) examinations, number of patients seen by the physician (OR = 1.58, p = 0.007), and level of training (OR = 1.88, p = 0.03). Conclusion: Although most physicians reported high rates of examination and referral practices on orthodontic problems among children in Saudi Arabia, only a small portion showed comprehensive examinations and quality referral practice. Including dental courses in medical curricula and improving oral and orthodontic examination guidelines for physicians are recommended.
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BACKGROUND: Self-medication (SM) has many potential drawbacks, including toxicity, drug resistance, severe adverse effects, drug interactions, drug abuse, and drug dependence, but it is still widely used for a variety of reasons, including time and money savings, symptom prevention or treatment of minor illnesses, a lack of access to doctors, etc. This study aimed to describe and analyse the usage of antibiotics without a prescription, self-medication practises, and patterns of using them among Saudis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia, a community-based cross-sectional study was done. After gaining consent, data were gathered from 420 adults during face-to-face interviews using a questionnaire. SPSS was used to analyse the data once it had been entered into Microsoft Excel (Microsoft® Corp., Redmond, WA). RESULTS: Regarding self-medication, among 208 participants, there was a male predominance and among upper lower class with respect to socioeconomic status. The self-medication rate was found to be higher among graduates and professionals with respect to education and occupation. Self-medication was discovered to be more prevalent among metropolitan residents. The majority of those who started using self-medication got their knowledge from various advertisements. The most frequent symptom of self-medication was fever, followed by a common cold. The most commonly used medication was paracetamol, followed by cough syrups. Weight loss advertisements influence participants the most for self-medication, followed by hair loss and diabetes. TV advertisements have the highest influence on people practising self-medication. CONCLUSION: The study calls for greater knowledge of the impacts of antibiotic self-medication, which can be accomplished through efficient measures including behaviour change communication and encouraging more research into its causes and effects.
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Objectives To estimate the proportion of positive epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations among patients diagnosed with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) and T790M at the King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH). Methods A retrospective cohort study that included all patients that were diagnosed with NSCLC from 2009 to 2017 at KKUH. Data obtained from both electronic and paper medical records and the following information were studied: age, gender, smoking, region, subtype of NSCLC, EGFR mutation test result, treatment, T790M mutation test (if required), comorbidities, metastasis. Statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 21.0; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). Results Among 71 patients with NSCLC 18 cases were identified for EGFR positive mutation and only one case for T790M. Deletion mutation in exon 19 represented 50% of total cases. Moreover, it showed that it is more frequent in males and non-smokers with 61.1% (11) and 66.7% (12), respectively. Majority of the cases were above the age of 60 years by 61.1% (11). The mutations reported highest in those living in Najd with a 44.4% (8) and all the mutated cases were adenocarcinoma. There was no statistical significance in the association between EGFR mutation and disease variables. Conclusion Ultimately, we found that the frequency of EGFR and T790M mutations among NSCLC patients at KKUH from 2009 to 2017 was 25.4% and 1.4%, respectively. Moreover, this result was conspicuous among non-smokers.
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Introduction Autoimmune mucocutaneous blistering dermatoses (AMCBD) are a group of disorders characterized by the production of autoantibodies that target specific adhesion molecules of the skin and/or mucous membranes. As a result, there is blister formation on the skin with or without mucous membrane involvement. Systemic corticosteroids have been used as the mainstay of treatment in AMCBD. However, due to the debilitating side effects associated with their use, there is significant morbidity and mortality, especially on the fragile elderly patients. Although the efficacy of dapsone in the treatment of AMCBD was identified decades ago, few recent studies shed light on that. Hence, further studies are needed to evaluate the efficacy of dapsone as a single agent in maintaining disease remission in patients with AMCBD. Materials and methods An observational retrospective study was performed. Patients with a known diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid (BP) or pemphigus vulgaris (PV) who are treated with dapsone with or without low-dose systemic corticosteroids were included in the study, and their medical files were reviewed. Results A total of seven patients were included (three males and four females). All patients showed a satisfactory response to dapsone, achieving disease remission in a short period of time with no serious side effects necessitating treatment cessation. Conclusions Our findings support that dapsone may have a corticosteroid-sparing effect in the management of AMCBD. Further studies are warranted to confirm our findings.
