ABSTRACT
Background Hair plays a significant role in physical appearance and hair loss can profoundly affect self-esteem and mental health. Studies show that people with clinically obvious and undetectable hair loss may have dramatically decreased quality of life (QoL). This study investigated the impact of androgenic alopecia on the quality of life of male individuals in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia and their willingness to seek treatment. Methods In the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, a cross-sectional study was carried out among men identified with androgenic alopecia (AGA). A self-administered survey was disseminated among the patients through social media sites. The questionnaire includes fundamental demographic factors including age, place of residence, level of education, the severity of androgenic alopecia, treatment method, and Skindex-29 to assess the patient's quality of life. Results Four hundred-two male patients out of 717 participants were selected, and 158 (39.3%) were aged between 20 to 29 years old. Satisfaction with treatment medication was reported by 24 (19.5%) out of those who underwent treatment (n=123). Less effectiveness was the most common reason for treatment dissatisfaction (81, 81.8%). The overall mean Skindex-29 score was 23.2 (SD 19.6) out of 100 points. Younger age, suffering hair loss for a shorter duration, undergoing alopecia treatment, being diagnosed with alopecia by a medical doctor, and having a moderate level of AGA were the factors that greatly affected the patient's QoL. Conclusion Consistent with the literature, this study showed that AGA significantly impaired patients' QoL. Among QoL domains, the symptoms domain had a greater effect on patients than the emotions or functional domains. Younger males who were suffering recently from hair loss and were diagnosed with AGA by the medical doctor demonstrated greater QoL impairment than the rest of the patients. A multicenter study may result in a better representation of the impact of QoL in patients with AGA.
ABSTRACT
Background Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), primarily coronary artery disease (CAD) and stroke, stand as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Our objective was to predict the 10-year risk of CVD in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in eight randomly selected primary healthcare centers using cluster sampling based on geographical location in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, specifically the Al-Ahsa region. The study aimed to assess the risk of developing CVD in the next 10 years among patients with at least one cardiovascular risk factor. Patients visiting the healthcare centers for checkups filled out the Framingham Cardiovascular Disease (10-year risk) score questionnaire. Results Of the 665 patients enrolled, 54.4% were female. The average age of the patients was 54.2 (SD 8.48) years. The overall average Framingham Risk Score (FRS) percentage was 19.2% (SD 15.4%). In terms of 10-year CVD risk, 34.6% of the patients were at high risk, 31.6% were at moderate risk, and 33.8% were considered low-risk individuals. Factors associated with a higher risk of CVD included older age, male gender, lower educational attainment, smoking, normal BMI, stage 2 hypertension, and diagnoses of hypertension, diabetes, and obesity. Conclusion Utilizing the FRS, it was determined that older men with lower educational levels had a higher 10-year risk of developing CVD. Furthermore, CVD risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and smoking were associated with individuals' CVD risk. Considering the ease of use and applicability of the FRS in daily clinical practice, as well as its potential to identify high-risk individuals, a more systematic implementation in general practice appears to be warranted.
ABSTRACT
A common technique for eliciting subjective probabilities is to provide a set of exclusive and exhaustive events and ask the assessor to estimate the probabilities of such events. However, such subjective probabilities estimations are usually subjected to a bias known as the partition dependence bias. This study aims to investigate the effect of state space partitioning and the level of knowledge on subjective probability estimations. The state space is partitioned into full, collapsed, and pruned trees, while the knowledge is manipulated into low and high levels. A scenario called "Best Bank Award" was developed and a 2 × 3 experimental design was employed to explore the effect of the level of knowledge and the partitioning of the state space on the subjective probability. A total of 627 professionals participated in the study and 543 valid responses were used for analysis. The results of two-way ANOVA with the Tukey HSD test for post hoc analysis indicate a mean probability of 24.2% for the full tree, which is significantly lower than those of the collapsed (35.7%) as well as pruned (36.3%) trees. Moreover, there is significant difference in the mean probabilities between the low (38.1%) and high (24.9%) knowledge levels. The results support the hypotheses that the partitioning of the state space as well as the level of knowledge affects subjective probability estimation. The study demonstrates that regardless of the level of knowledge, the partition dependence bias is robust. However, the subjective probability accuracy improves with more knowledge.
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Probability , Analysis of Variance , BiasABSTRACT
The aim of this research was to explore the relationship between the push, pull, anti-push, and anti-pull factors vs. early retirement intention among Saudi medical staff, and to investigate whether there are gender differences in the early retirement intention. To this end, we designed a correlational and cross-sectional study, for which data were collected through an online survey. A total of 680 responses were gathered, of which 221 valid responses constituted the final sample for the analysis. Logistics regression was used to test the hypotheses of the study. The results showed that approximately 58% of the respondents indicated early retirement intention. The significant factors in predicting this intention were the pull, anti-push, and anti-pull factors, whereas the push factors were found to be insignificant. Moreover, female medical staff tend to retire earlier than males. Strategies recommended to delay retirement are providing flexible work hours, working shorter shifts or on a part-time basis, offering programs for professional development, and according more recognition.
ABSTRACT
This study provides a systematic analysis of research on the electricity sector in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in the period 1983-2018. GCC countries have experienced tremendous economic growth in the past few decades. This was accompanied by a corresponding increase in electricity consumption. Therefore, a thorough review is needed to understand the research conducted on the electricity sector in GCC countries. This study reviewed articles published in five well-known energy journals: Applied Energy, Energy, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, and Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews. The articles were classified into seven categories based on the analysis tools implemented in the papers: 1. Simulation tools, 2. Scenarios tools, 3. Equilibrium tools, 4. Top-down tools, 5. Bottom-up tools, 6. Operations optimization tools, and 7. Investment optimization tools. This study also provides an overview of the research, including the increase in publications over time, an authorship analysis, a keywords analysis, and an analysis of the length of the publications.
