Language and Communication Barriers in Emergency Departments in Makkah: Physicians' Perspective.

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.

Knowledge and awareness toward surgical treatment of epilepsy among medical students at Umm Al-Qura University.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate knowledge and awareness toward surgical treatment of epilepsy among medical students at Umm Al-Qura University. Methods: A survey composed of 10 questions was distributed to medical students concerning surgical neurological disorders. It was used to collect data from 401 samples. Questions addressed general knowledge of epilepsy surgery and drug-resistant epilepsy, students' attitude toward epilepsy surgery, and techniques. The chi-square test was utilized. Results: The familiar surgical techniques were lobectomy (11.2%), followed by hemispherotomy (8.2%). The term "drug-resistant epilepsy" was known to 24.4%. More than half of the students 259 (64.6%) would refer patients with drug-resistant epilepsy to a neurosurgeon and neurologist, knowledge and awareness of epilepsy surgery were high for 30.7% of students. Statistically, significant relationship was observed between the level of awareness and academic years (p = 0.000131). Conclusions: Medical students have a positive attitude toward epilepsy surgery. Students are less aware of drug resistance in epilepsy. Knowledge and awareness were better among students at higher levels. We conclude that highlighting the importance of epilepsy surgery should be continued. Moreover, additional educational effort should be invested in expressing the term drug-resistant epilepsy.