The Prevalence of Depression and Its Associated Risk Factors Among Government Primary School Teachers in Dammam, Khobar, and Qatif (2019-2021): A Cross-Sectional Study.

INTRODUCTION: In Saudi Arabia, 34% of Saudis have been diagnosed with a mental health illness at some point in their lives, with depression making up to 6% of the population. Teachers' mental health is a major problem across the world and has an impact on their students. This study is an attempt to investigate the prevalence of depression and its severity and associated sociodemographic and occupational risk factors among government primary school teachers in Dammam, Khobar, and Qatif. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. The research tool used to conduct this study is an electronically administered Arabic-language questionnaire distributed randomly to all government primary school teachers in Dammam, Khobar, and Qatif. The numbers of participating teachers are 358,242 males and 116 females. RESULTS: By using the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ9) scale, it was found that 36.6% suffer from mild depression, 30.4% suffer from moderate to moderately severe depression, and 11.2% suffer from severe depression. The obtained results indicated that there is an association between the variable of the prevalence of depression and some sociodemographic factors such as physical or psychosocial abuse, and the occupational characteristic variables such as teaching more than three or more subjects and bad relationship with the school administration. CONCLUSION: More studies are needed to address the mental health issues among school teachers in Saudi Arabia.

Violence Against Healthcare Workers at Primary Care Centers in Dammam and Al Khobar, Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia, 2019.

PURPOSE: Workplace violence is common throughout the world. It causes many serious problems in the healthcare sector, where it significantly impacts healthcare workers, the services provided, and organizations as a whole. However, few studies have investigated these issues in Saudi Arabia. This study examined the prevalence of violence against healthcare workers at primary care centers in Dammam and Al Khobar, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The study also assessed the types, perpetrators, perceived causes, and consequences related to such violence. Here, the aim was to understand how healthcare workers responded to violence and gauge their awareness of a reporting system. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 360 healthcare workers (180 each from primary care centers in Dammam and Al Khobar) were invited to complete structured, self-administered questionnaires. As such, this study employed a cross-sectional analytical design. RESULTS: The prevalence of workplace violence among all participating health workers was 46.9%, with approximately 90% of these workers reporting verbal violence, 34.3% having been subject to intimidation, and 3% reporting physical violence. Approximately 75% reported that violent events were initiated by patients, while 45.6% reported that the events were initiated by patients' companions. Healthcare workers' reactions included reporting events to their supervisors or the police, but 46.7% said they did nothing; the most common reason was perceived inefficacy. Finally, only 36.4% of all participants were aware of a violence reporting system. CONCLUSION: This study showed that healthcare workers were commonly exposed to different forms of violence, but often either did not react to it or did not report it. Further, there was relatively little awareness of how to manage and report workplace violence, thus indicating the need for healthcare workers to receive relevant education and training. A national program should also be established to track and prevent workplace violence.

Awareness About Glaucoma Management Among Physicians in Riyadh: A Multicenter Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose Glaucoma is an irreversible chronic disease that damages the optic nerve. Knowledge and skills related to glaucoma are extremely important for frontline physicians. This study aimed to determine the knowledge and management as well as examination and referral practices related to glaucoma among physicians at primary care centers and secondary hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method This was a cross-sectional study of 126 physicians, including general practitioners as well as emergency, internal, and family physicians from three hospitals and five medical centers in Riyadh. A validated self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. It was divided into six categories: sociodemographic data and practice setting; and glaucoma assessment-questions regarding risk factors, knowledge, examination, management, and referral practices. Results Of the 126 participants, 32.8% were family physicians. Surprisingly, the overall knowledge score for glaucoma was suboptimal (34.2%). While half of the doctors were aware of the medications used in glaucoma, 88.7% considered themselves unqualified to manage glaucoma. Although 93.7% agreed that increased ocular pressure requires urgent referral to an ophthalmologist, only 33.3% stated they were comfortable using tonometry. Conclusion The majority of physicians (65.8%) showed a poor level of knowledge regarding glaucoma, which was reflected in their referral practices (66.9%). Therefore, promoting increased glaucoma awareness along with improved examination skills and referral practice among frontline physicians is essential to prevent this avoidable cause of blindness.

Terrestrial Locomotion in American Eels (Anguilla rostrata): How Substrate and Incline Affect Movement Patterns.

Fishes overcome a variety of challenges in order to invade the terrestrial environment. Terrestrial invasions by fish occur over a variety of environmental contexts. In order to advance their bodies on land, fishes capable of terrestrial excursions tend to use one of three different types of locomotor modes: axial-based, appendage-based, or axial-appendage-based. Elongate species with reduced appendages, such as the American eel, Anguilla rostrata, rely on axial based locomotion in water and on land. When eels move from water to land as part of their complex life cycle, they inevitably encounter a variety of substrates and must traverse variable degrees of incline. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of substrate and incline on the terrestrial locomotion of the American eel. In order to do this, eels were filmed from a dorsal view on three substrates and four inclines: sand, loose pebbles, and fixed (glued) pebbles at 0°, 5°, 10°, and 15°. We digitized 20 evenly spaced points along the body to examine the following characteristics of locomotion: velocity, distance ratio (DR), and wave parameters such as wave amplitude, frequency, and length and assessed whether substrate, incline, or body position affected these parameters. DR, our metric of movement efficiency, was highest on the flat sand condition and lowest on 15° pebble conditions. Efficiency also varied across the body. Velocity followed a similar pattern being highest on sand at 0° and lowest at the steepest inclines. Wave amplitude generally increased toward the tail but was similar across substrates and inclines. Wave frequency was relatively consistent across the body on both pebble substrates, but on sand, frequency was higher toward the head but decreased toward the tail. Wavelengths on sand were the longest at 0° near the head and shorter wavelengths were observed on steeper inclines. Both pebble substrates elicited lower wavelengths that were more similar across the body. Overall, A. rostrata were more effective in navigating compliant substrates but struggled at steeper inclines. Our findings provide insight into locomotor challenges that American eels may encounter as they move from and between bodies of water.

Depression and anxiety among hypertensive and diabetic primary health care patients. Could patients' perception of their diseases control be used as a screening tool?

OBJECTIVES: To measure the frequency and identify risk factors of depression and anxiety among diabetic and hypertensive primary health care (PHC) patients. Also to assess whether patients' perception of their chronic diseases control and sleep disturbance could serve as screening tools for depression and anxiety. Methods: This cross-sectional study of 368 PHC patients was conducted in AlKhobar city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between April and May 2015. Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 were used as diagnostic tools for depression and anxiety. Results: Frequencies, cross-tabulations and logistic regression tests were performed. Patient's perception of chronic diseases control was significantly associated with the presence of depression and anxiety, while it was not seen in the tested disease control (glycated hemoglobin less than 7% and blood pressure less than 140/90 mm Hg). Sleep disturbance has a high specificity (98.9%) in screening for depression. Overall prevalence of depression or anxiety was 57.3% and detected cases was 23%. Depression comprise 48.7% (39.8% mild, 7.1% moderate, 1.8% severe). Anxiety comprise 38.4% (25.1% mild, 8.8% moderate, 4.4% severe). Co-existence of both disorders was 29.5%. Sleep disturbance, weight change, and low income had an independent significant effect on depression and anxiety. Conclusion: Having no sleep disturbance can rule out 98.9% of depression and anxiety cases.  Patient's feelings should be considered in chronic diseases health care plans. Depression or anxiety among diabetic and hypertensive patients have a high morbidity, but with low detection rate.