Benefits of Space Medicine Research for Healthcare on Earth.

Space research has brought various discoveries and benefits in the fields of health, transportation, safety measures, industry, and many more. Additionally, space research has provided a large number of discoveries and inventions in the field of medicine. Many of these inventions benefit humanity in multiple ways, especially with regard to well-being. Research objectives range from the early detection of illnesses to statistical studies that help in epidemiology. Furthermore, there are potential future opportunities that might help in the development of mankind in general and Earth medicine in particular. This review presents some of the significant inventions that were made through the journey to space and elaborate on how those inventions helped develop Earth medicine and other fields.

Nutrition competence of primary care physicians in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVES: Primary care physicians have an opportunity to support healthy dietary behaviours of patients by providing nutrition care. However, it is unclear whether primary care physicians in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) are sufficiently competent in nutrition. This study aimed to assess the nutrition competence of primary care physicians in KSA and identify whether nutrition competence is associated with the provision of nutrition care to patients living with diet-related chronic disease. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Chronic disease clinics across 48 primary care centres under the Ministry of Health in the city of Jeddah, KSA. PARTICIPANTS: 90 primary care physicians completed the survey (response rate: 98%). General practitioners and family medicine residents, specialists, and consultants actively working in chronic disease clinics between February and May 2019 were included. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Primary outcome measure was nutrition competence of primary care physicians measured via the validated NUTCOMP (nutrition competence) questionnaire. RESULTS: Primary care physicians perceived themselves as competent in nutrition care but their reported provision of nutrition care was limited. Confidence in their nutrition knowledge and skills elicited the lowest mean scores of 25.8 (±5.4) out of 35 and 29 (±5.2) out of 40, respectively. The reported provision of nutrition care was closely correlated with physicians' confidence in their nutrition knowledge (r=0.57) and communication (r=0.52). Three factors were identified as predicting whether physicians provide nutrition care to patients: confidence in counselling about nutrition (p<0.001), having previous nutrition education (p=0.005) and a higher professional qualification (p=0.008). CONCLUSIONS: Primary care physicians felt confident in providing nutrition care to patients living with diet-related chronic disease. Primary care physicians would benefit from higher levels of nutrition knowledge and skills to effectively support patients to improve their dietary behaviours and health conditions, leading to a positive impact on public health.

Illness anxiety disorder and perception of disease and distress among medical students in western Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate and assess the prevalence and predictors of illness anxiety disorder among Saudi medical students in western Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2017 to March 2018 at King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was applied. The questionnaire is composed of demographic data, the short version of the Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI), the Medical Student's Disease (MSD) perception and distress scale and history of a visit to a physician in the past 6 months. Results: Two hundred and seventy-one Saudi medical students participated; 71% were males and 53% were less than 22 years old. The participants represented all academic years, with 54% in their 4th, 5th, and 6th years. Illness anxiety disorder was identified in 17% of the participants. Younger students and those with a history of a physician's visit within the past 6 months were more likely to have illness anxiety disorder (OR=2.31, 95%  CI= 1.16, 4.60; OR=2.46, 95% CI=1.25, 4.84). Conclusions: The prevalence of illness anxiety disorder among Saudi medical students is comparable to similar recent studies. Student counseling programs highlighting coping techniques, especially during the early study years, should be implemented.