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Background Communication is essential in the medical sector, particularly in the emergency departments (ED), to provide appropriate patient care. Lack of patient history and large patient numbers, cultural variations, inadequate health literacy, and language difficulties can impact effective communication. Aim This study aims to examine language and communication barriers experienced by ED physicians in Makkah, Saudi Arabia, as well as to determine the effect of language barriers on patient care and explore possible methods to deal with language and communication barriers. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted from April 8 to June 6, 2023. A total of 136 responses were collected from ED physicians at the six Ministry of Health Hospitals (MOH) in Makkah through a validated online survey. The data analysis was implemented using RStudio (R version 4.1.1). Result In this study, 136 participants' data were examined. Of note, one-quarter of ED physicians (25%; n=34) under study stated that they always experienced language barriers, whereas 64.7% (n=88) of them sometimes experienced these difficulties. More than half of the ED physicians (54.4%; n=74) stated that their patients had poor outcomes because of poor communication. Among those who responded positively to poor outcomes, ED physicians' suggestions to improve communication with patients included providing labels of the common scientific terminologies in different languages (59.6%; n=81) and providing courses to communicate in foreign languages (48.5%; n=66). Conclusion Exposure to language barriers among ED physicians in Makkah was slightly high. This may impact the patient's outcomes. Therefore, strategies to improve patient-physician communication are needed.
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Background "Bounce back" patients is a term used to refer to patients returning to the emergency department within 72 hours after the first visit. This can be attributed to various factors related to diagnosis, management, or the health care system. Objective This study sought to evaluate the extent of bounce-back patients in the emergency department of King Abdullah Medical City (KAMC), Makkah, Saudi Arabia, and then explore the possible relationship between shock index (SI) and bounce-back patients. Methods This is a retrospective chart review of the electronic system among patients who have returned to the emergency department within 72 hours from the index visit. All records were reviewed from May 2019 to May 2021. Vital signs were collected to calculate the shock index (heart rate/systolic blood pressure). The data were analyzed by SPSS Statistics v.27.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results A total of (506) responses were analyzed. The median age was 56 years with an IQR of 40-67, and males represented 55.3%. Around three-quarters of the second complaints (76.9%) were related to the index visit. The durations between the visits were as follows: 51.8% within 24 hours, 30.2% within 25-48 hours, and 18% within 49-72 hours. The median and IQR for shock index were 0.67 and 0.59-0.80 respectively, while the median and IQR for reverse shock index were 1.49 and 1.25-1.71 respectively. Diabetes and the duration between the two visits were associated with the complaints (p-value=0.005, p-value=0.011) respectively. Conclusion The majority of bounce-back cases occurred within the first 24 hours in our sample. Hypertension, diabetes, and ischemic heart diseases were the most prevalent comorbidities among the bounce-back patients. The majority of bounce-back patients (76.9%) presented with complaints related to the index visit.
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INTRODUCTION: This survey evaluates knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical students towards use of antibiotics for upper respiratory infections (URTIs). METHODOLOGY: Cross-sectional questionnaire study among 1042 randomly selected medical students in Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: Respondents were mostly Saudis (97.5%), had previous knowledge of antibiotics (99.7%) and their usage (98.3%) against bacterial infections (93.7%). 18.1% thought that they could be used for viral infections. Nearly all students (97.2%) used antibiotics themselves during the previous year and self-medication without a prescription was high at 49% of cases. Most antibiotics were taken for URTI symptoms (61.8%). Female medical students had better knowledge on antibiotic effectiveness against bacteria and viruses, and overall knowledge increased with study year. Health seeking behaviour rates for symptoms of RTI and associated estimated necessity for antibiotics varied but were highest for cough with yellow/green phlegm. CONCLUSIONS: The depth of knowledge that healthcare professionals have in relation to the proper use of antibiotics is essential in spreading the right message within communities. This is the first large study among medical students in Saudi Arabia, shedding important light on areas for improvement in the medical curriculum as well as antibiotic practices of medical students themselves.
