Burnout Among School Teachers During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Burnout is a syndrome that results from stressors in the work environment that have not been successfully managed. The prevalence of burnout among schoolteachers was always controversial. COVID-19 pandemic added more stressors to teachers since they had to change their working styles in response to the pandemic lockdowns or curfews. In Saudi Arabia, the prevalence and determinants of burnout among school teachers were not measured by any other group during the COVID-19 pandemic stressors. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 879 teachers in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia, using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), during April 2021. Multistage cluster random sampling was used. Results: The mean age of the participants was 41.4 (±6.9) years. Male teachers represented 52.6% of the participants while females represented 47.4%. Most teachers showed burnout symptoms (69.6%). Consequences of burnout were observed, such as using psychotropic medications (4.6%), absenteeism (45.6%), lack of job satisfaction (7.7%), and changing schools (15.8%). Using the MBI scale, most teachers showed medium or high emotional exhaustion (57.6%), low depersonalization (62.2%), and low personal accomplishment (51.4%). Conclusion: Most teachers showed symptoms of burnout during the COVID-19 pandemic. Being an expert and ability to adapt to technology during the COVID-19 pandemic proved to effectively reduce burnout symptoms. Increasing incentives, early detection, and improving the work environment is recommended to diminish burnout consequences.

Physicians' and nurses' perceptions and attitudes toward sickle cell disease patients in Jazan, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To explore physicians' and nurses' perceptions and attitudes toward sickle cell patients in Jazan, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). METHODS: A cross-sectional study conducted in Jazan, KSA from November 2018 to March 2019. A convenience sample of nurses and physicians (N=244) from 12 hospitals in Jazan region completed the general perceptions about sickle cell disease patients scale questionnaire. Inferential statistics were conducted as appropriate to compare attitudes among groups within all variables. A p less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The response rate was 81%. The mean age was 33.73±7.89 years. Approximately, half of the participants were nurses (54.9%) and 40.8% were males. In comparison with physicians (39.6%), approximately two-thirds (65.7%) of nurses have more negative attitudes (p=0.000). Emergency healthcare providers have more negative attitudes than providers in the pediatric department (p=0.043). Those treating primarily children had higher positive attitude than those treating adults (p=0.013) or treating both, (p=0.017). Emergency providers (p=0.000), and internal medicine providers (p=0.001), had higher concern-raising behaviors' scale scores than pediatric providers. CONCLUSION: Findings highlight a significant proportion of providers in Jazan region, KSA, to have negative attitudes toward and high concerns about drug-seeking behaviors among sickle cell patients. These attitudes can contribute to lower quality of care for people with sickle cell disease. Further studies are recommended to nd out the factors behind these attitudes as well as the adherence to guidelines in the management of sickle cell disease.

Knowledge and attitude towards hematopoietic stem cell transplantation among medical students at Jazan University, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To identify the knowledge and attitudes of medical students at Jazan University towards hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Methods: This cross-sectional study involved all medical students at the Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan, Saudi Arabia, between October 2018 and February 2019. Data were collected using a questionnaire that has been  used in a previous study conducted at Mayo Medical School, Minnesota, USA. Results: Out of 800 students, 744 completed the questionnaire (the response rate was 93%). Sixty-seven students (9%) were already registered in the Saudi stem cell donor registry (SSCDR). The participants' knowledge on donor eligibility was 37.4% and the donation process was 23.6%. Registered students were more likely to join the registry if there was a drive in their area (n=65 [97%], p=0.000), and more likely to donate stem cells to any matched patient (n=58 [86.6%], p=0.000). The main concern of the participants was the long-term side effects (48%). Conclusion: Most students lack the knowledge on HSCT. However, the students who registered in SSCDR had better knowledge and attitudes towards HSCT than the unregistered. Long-term side effects of HSCT were the most common concern of the participants. However, time commitment was the major concern of the registered students.

Factors Associated with Mothers' Care of Their Newborns in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Infant mortality rates are highest in the southern regions of Saudi Arabia, compared to other regions in the kingdom. OBJECTIVE: To measure demographic factors associated with mothers' levels of knowledge and practice of care for their newborns in Jazan region, south of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study conducted between November and December 2018 in Jazan region, Saudi Arabia, on the northern borders of Yemen. A questionnaire was utilised to measure mothers' level of knowledge and practice of newborn care. Data was collected via interviews, and a scoring system was developed to classify knowledge level and practice adequacy. Logistic regression was used to assess the presence of statistically significant associations between demographic factors and level of knowledge and practice adequacy. FINDINGS: A total of 450 mothers participated in the current investigation. A majority of participating mothers were able to give correct answers, where the mean level of knowledge was 11.85/16 [SD: 2.6]. Additionally, the mean score for practice adequacy was 7.11/10 [SD: 1.45]. However, 122 mothers (27%) reported using alternative treatments to treat their newborns instead of seeking professional health care from available health services. Additionally, 42 mothers (9.3%) reported not attending any antenatal visits during their pregnancy. Factors which were found to be statistically associated with knowledge were education level, employment status, and adherence to antenatal visits during pregnancy (p < 0.05). Age and employment status appeared to be associated with practice where older and employed mothers had higher odds of competency (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The proportions of correct answers measuring knowledge and practice adequacy concerning newborn care varied between 40% to 93%. Knowledge and practice appeared to be associated with demographic factors, such as level of education, age, and attending antenatal care visits.