Knowledge and practice of preparticipation physical evaluation of Saudi primary care physicians in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: The preparticipation physical evaluation (PPE) monograph is a vital resource for medical providers aimed at ensuring the safety and well-being of athletes during sports participation by screening for injuries and disease risk factors. However, the concept of PPE is relatively new in Saudi Arabia, where primary care physicians (PCPs) often lack the proper training for it. This study's aim was to assess PCPs' knowledge and practice of PPE and identify associated factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A self-administrated web-based questionnaire was distributed to PCPs in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire covered the various aspects of PPE knowledge (including general principles, components, contraindications of sports participation, concerning history and physical findings, electrocardiography interpretations, and ethical considerations) as well as PPE practice. Initial treatment of data included descriptive statistics.; Chi-square tes or Fisher's exact test as, as appropriate, were used to determine association of knowledge and practices with various independent variables. RESULTS: Of the 240 contacted PCPs, 192 responded yielding a response rate of 80%; 50.5% had no prior PPE training. About 43% of the PCPs had not encountered PPE during their examination, but the remainder performed monthly PPE. Notably, 82.8% demonstrated a poor level of knowledge regarding PPE and only 43% had a satisfactory level of practice. CONCLUSION: This study revealed that a significant proportion of PCPs displayed poor knowledge of PPE and <½ of our sample showed satisfactory practice levels. Recommendations to establish the local guidelines regarding PPE for PCPs to follow should be emphasized and PPE training integrated into both undergraduate and postgraduate family medicine curricula. These measures are crucial for the enhancement of the safety of athletes in Saudi Arabia.

Evaluating the Predictors of Persistent Long COVID Symptoms and Their Severity in COVID-19 Survivors 1 Year After Infection.

INTRODUCTION/OBJECTIVE: As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic progressed, the virus was found to cause long-term health complications known as long COVID (LC). This study aimed to investigate LC symptom severity and the factors associated with the likelihood of persistence beyond 1 year among COVID-19 survivors in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted via convenience sampling between December 1, 2023, and March 1, 2024. In-person interviews were performed, and 845 individuals with persistent symptoms after acute COVID-19 were included. RESULTS: Hair loss and memory impairment were the most reported symptoms. In predicting LC persistence beyond 12 months, women were found to have higher odds of being symptomatic than men, and individuals from moderate-to-high-income households were more likely to report persistent symptoms than those from low-income households. Each additional acute COVID-19 symptom increased the likelihood of persistent symptoms by 1.14 times. Reporting more symptoms in the first 6 months post-infection significantly reduced the odds of long-term symptoms by approximately 30%. CONCLUSION: LC symptom severity varies among patients, and sociodemographic and clinical factors influence the likelihood of experiencing symptoms beyond 1 year. Understanding these factors can provide insights and help optimize management, leading to improved patient outcomes.

Association between multimorbidity and cognitive decline in the elderly population of the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Cognitive decline affects the quality of life, and dementia affects independence in daily life activities. Multimorbidity in older adults is associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment. This research aims to study the relationship between cognitive decline and multimorbidity in the elderly population in the Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional research was conducted from July to October 2022 among adults over 60 years. All patients with two or more comorbidities were contacted for a face-to-face interview and cognitive testing to estimate cognitive function by trained family physicians using St. Louis University Mental State Examination. ANOVA and Chi-square test were used to test for statistical significance. Binary logistic regression was used to show the odds of having cognitive impairment and multimorbidity. All tests were performed at 5% level of significance. RESULTS: The study involved 343 individuals; majority (74.1%) aged 60-75 years and were males (67.9%). Hypertension, diabetes, and chronic pain were reported by 56%, 48%, and 44% participants, respectively. Thirty percent participants had 3 or more comorbidities. About 36% had mild neurocognitive disorder and 31.2% had dementia. The results showed that age, gender (female), diabetes, stroke, chronic pain, and multimorbidity were significantly associated with cognitive impairment. In our study, hypertension, coronary artery diseases, depression, and anxiety were not significantly associated with risk of cognitive decline. CONCLUSION: Our study found that multimorbidity is significantly associated with cognitive decline. Controlling comorbidities and preventing risk factors in midlife could help in delaying the progression of the disease.

Review of the Psychological Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Workers in Saudi Arabia.

PURPOSE: The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly burdened healthcare systems worldwide and substantially affected the psychological state. The objective of this narrative review was to summarize the psychological outcome of the "Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic" on healthcare workers in kingdom of Saudi Arabia to assess their mental health outcome that can aid in development of guidelines and psychological interventions that can improve healthcare workers' quality of life, work and decision-making capability toward patient treatment during the pandemic. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A comprehensive research was done to overview current available literature on psychological and mental health issues observed among healthcare workers "HCW" in Saudi Arabia. The search included all articles published since the beginning of the pandemic from January 2020 till February 2021 relevant to the subject of the review. In this review, a total of 10 primary research articles were included following a cross-sectional survey method to analyze the impact of various psychological variables. RESULTS: Anxiety symptoms were reported by between 33.3% and 68.5% of HCWs. Between 27.9% and 55.2% of HCWs reported depressive symptoms. HCWs reported anxiety, depression, sleep disturbances and distress with a range comprised between 27.9% and 68.5%. CONCLUSION: The Covid-19 pandemic has certainly led to multifaceted and vigorous psychological and mental impact on healthcare providers, it is now both an opportunity and challenge to design further studies that can lead to development of guidelines in Saudi Arabia and worldwide to improve mental health infrastructure that strengthen patient oriented treatment of care plan during this pandemic.

Medical students' perception of their educational environment at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to investigate students' perception of the educational climate in a medical school in Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The difference in the perception of preclinical year students and clinical year students was also evaluated. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 2nd to 6th year students at the medical college of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University. "Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure" (DREEM) was used to evaluate the educational environment. RESULTS: Out of 518, 238 students participated in the study; participation rate of 45.9%. The average DREEM score was 112.38 with a SD of 22.4. Students' perception of atmosphere got the highest score (27.1 ± 6.7) of the five DREEM subscales. The 3rd year had the highest DREEM score compared to students of other levels, while the DREEM score of preclinical students was significantly higher than that of the clinical year students. CONCLUSION: Perception of medical students about the educational climate was more positive than negative. Although the DREEM score and its subdomains showed a positive educational environment, students still mentioned some problematic areas that need to be addressed. Findings of this study could encourage other medical colleges in the KSA to focus on weak areas and address the issues raised by students, especially clinical year students.

Descriptive study on the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the diabetic foot.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes, practices and risk factors influencing diabetic foot ulcers among diabetes patients attending a diabetic clinic in a Saudi hospital. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a random sample of 229 participants was selected from the diabetic clinic of the outpatient department of King Fahd Hospital of the University of Dammam during January to March 2015. A pre-tested structured questionnaire was administered to the diabetes patients to obtain information regarding the outcome variables. RESULTS: The results showed that diabetic foot ulcers were observed among 26% of diabetic patients. Concerning knowledge of the diabetic foot, the majority of participants had good education and favourable attitudes towards diabetic foot care. Interestingly, the results demonstrated that despite these characteristics, a high percentage of the participants ignored very important information and instructions before buying new shoes. CONCLUSION: All diabetic patients with diabetes mellitus should be educated regarding diabetic foot complications and the characteristic specifications of diabetic shoes. However, levels of knowledge, attitudes and practices should be improved. This improvement could be achieved by an awareness programme for the early detection and care of diabetic foot problems in KSA.