Perceptions about the Implementation and Education of Telemedicine among University Students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: This study evaluated and compared the perceptions, awareness, and experiences of telemedicine among university students in Riyadh. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was distributed electronically to undergraduate university students in Riyadh. The study was conducted from September 2021 to March 2022. Five-point Likert scale data were reported as percent agreement, while open-text comments were reported as recurring themes. Besides, the perceptions of medical students were compared with students from other disciplines. Results: Of 564 participants, 209 (37%) were medical students. Most respondents agreed that telemedicine could save patients' time (77.7%) and improve access to healthcare (73.4%). The agreement was low for the statements that doctors would effectively evaluate the clinical features (39.2%) and that patients would effectively communicate their illnesses (44.3%). The agreement of medical students compared to students from other disciplines was even lower for these statements (25% vs. 47%; p<0.001) and (37% vs. 48%; p=0.03), respectively. Most medical students reported that they never learned about telemedicine (65%) and its tools (69%). Lack of awareness, training of healthcare workers and perceived lower quality of healthcare emerged as the most relevant factors for the limited acceptance of telemedicine. Conclusions: Most participants perceived that telemedicine could save patients' time and improve access to healthcare. The low agreement, especially of medical students, for the ability of physicians to evaluate clinical features and of patients to communicate illnesses effectively possibly represented suboptimal education of telemedicine in medical curricula. Thus, incorporating telemedicine into medical curricula and improving public awareness might expedite telemedicine implementation.

Aberrant Expression of Claudins in Head and Neck Carcinomas and Their Prognostic and Therapeutic Value: A Narrative Review.

Head and neck carcinomas have been associated with poor prognosis. Recent studies have highlighted the role of claudins' expression in tumors throughout the body, and their prognostic and therapeutic role. Understanding the role of claudins and how their expression affects the progression of carcinomas in the head and neck region may allow for advances in the prognosis and management of this type of cancer. Several studies have highlighted the aberrant expression of the proteins in carcinomas in this region. Specifically, the overexpression of claudin-1 and downregulation of claudins-4, -7, and -17 have been linked with poor survival in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. In laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma, increased levels of claudins-1 and reduced levels of claudins-3, -8, and -11 have been linked with poor outcomes. Targeting these proteins has shown promising outcomes as therapeutic in preclinical studies. However, studies remain extremely limited in nasal and hypopharyngeal carcinomas. In this review, we survey the available literature describing the aberrant expression of various claudins in carcinomas in this region, while highlighting their potential prognostic and therapeutic value. Then, we describe some molecular mechanisms involved in the aberrant expression of claudins and how they can be utilized as therapeutic targets.