Mapping the landscape of medical research in the Arab world countries: A comprehensive bibliometric analysis.

OBJECTIVES: To describe the productivity, performance, and impact of medical research in the Arab world countries. METHODS: We carried out a bibliometric analysis using Clarivate Analytics databases from January 2017 to March 2023. We reported research productivity, national and international research collaboration patterns, impact of Arab medical research output compared to the global average, top medical journals publishing Arab-affiliated research, and performance of the most productive Arab institutions. RESULTS: The Arab world contributed 2.72% to global medical research publication, with a citation impact of 11.98 compared to the global impact of 12.02. Qatar, Lebanon, and Saudi Arabia led medical research publications per million population among Arab countries, ranking 26th, 36th, and 37th globally. Medical research publications increased by 87% annually from 2017-2022, with 70% of research originating from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. National collaborations accounted for 15% of Arab world publications, while international collaborations represented 66%. The median impact factor across the top 20 medical journals with Arab-affiliated authors was 5.14, with 50% being quartile one journals. The top 10 Arab-origin medical journals had a median impact factor of 3.13. Approximately 80% of the top 20 Arab institutions were academic, with a median publication count of 3,162.5 and a median citation impact of 14.5. CONCLUSION: The study provides insights into the state of medical research in the Arab countries, indicating room for improvement in the region's medical research.

Determinants of Vaccine Hesitancy among Home Health Care Service Recipients in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Vaccine hesitancy has been identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a major worldwide health threat. Home Health Care (HHC) service recipients represent a vulnerable group and were prioritized to receive coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination during the national vaccine campaigns in Saudi Arabia. We aimed to investigate the most frequent reasons for vaccine hesitancy among home health care recipients in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among home health care (HHC) service recipients in Saudi Arabia from February 2022 to September 2022. The behavioral and social drivers (BeSD) model developed by the WHO was used to understand the factors affecting vaccination decision making in our cohort. RESULTS: Of the 426 HHC service recipients enrolled in the study, a third were hesitant to complete the COVID-19 vaccination series. The most prevalent reported reason for COVID-19 vaccine refusal was concerns about the vaccine side effects (41.6%). Factors independently associated with COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy were: having chronic conditions (odds ratio [OR] = 2.59; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.33-5.05, p = 0.005), previous COVID-19 diagnosis (OR = 0.48; 95% CI: 0.28-0.82, p = 0.008), ease of getting the COVID-19 vaccine by themselves (OR = 0.49; 95% CI: 0.28-0.89, p = 0.018), belief in the importance of COVID-19 vaccine in protecting their health (OR = 0.60; 95% CI: 0.38-0.96, p = 0.032), and confidence in the safety of COVID-19 vaccination (OR = 0.38; 95% CI: 0.21-0.69, p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Only one-third of the study participants were hesitant to complete the series of COVID-19 vaccination. Understanding the factors underpinning vaccine hesitancy among this group would help healthcare workers and policymakers in developing personalized health awareness campaigns aimed at improving vaccine acceptance levels.

A cross-sectional study: exploring knowledge and attitude of medical and nursing students to Care for Elders in the future.

BACKGROUND: All societies are going through a longevity revolution. Inflating the elderly's age group will present many challenges to the healthcare system. A better health workforce is needed to meet this demand. Little is known about the knowledge and attitude of medical and nursing students toward geriatric care in Saudi Arabia. This study aims to explore medical and nursing students' knowledge about aging, and their attitude toward caring for older adults. METHOD: A cross-sectional study using two surveys: the fact on aging quiz to assess knowledge and the UCLA geriatric attitude scale to evaluate attitudes. A total of 494 medical and nursing students from three universities in Saudi Arabia were included. RESULTS: Knowledge and attitude scores were 13.57/23 and 3.37/5, respectively. Findings showed that even in a country where the elderly are respected and family bonds are valued there is still much room for improvement. Moreover, there was a significant statistical difference in the knowledge and attitude scores (p < .0001) regarding the participants' specialty. The nursing participants had higher knowledge scores, while the medical participants had better attitude scores. Overall, Spearman's correlation coefficient between ranked knowledge and attitude scores was -.339 with a significance of p < .0001, indicating a low negative correlation between the two scores. CONCLUSION: Knowledge and attitude score were fair to moderate, these findings propose enhancing learners' education and training experiences in the care of the elderly through curricular improvements.

Prevalence and factors associated with dyslipidemia among adolescents in Saudi Arabia.

Dyslipidemia is a major risk factor for atherosclerosis. Screening for dyslipidemia at an early age is essential to prevent and control its consequences. This study aimed to determine prevalence of dyslipidemia and its correlates among adolescents in Saudi Arabia. Data of 5854 adolescents aged 10-19 years from all 13 regions of Saudi Arabia were obtained from the Jeeluna study; a national cross-sectional, multistage stratified cluster sample survey. Dyslipidemia was defined based on the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines for adolescents. We found that a quarter of Saudi adolescents have dyslipidemia (males: 33.3%, females: 17.9%). Significant variation was observed by region (p < 0.001). Prevalence of abnormal Total Cholesterol was 6.7%, LDL-C 7.1%, HDL-C 12.8%, Non-HDL-C 8.3%, and Triglycerides 9.6%. Factors independently associated with dyslipidemia were male gender (OR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.78-2.70, p < 0.001), BMI (underweight OR = 0.80, 95% CI 0.69-0.94, overweight OR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.50-2.06, obese OR = 2.80, 95% CI 2.34-3.34, p < 0.001, vs. normal) and serum ferritin (high OR = 7.02, 95% CI 1.49-34.79, low OR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.67-1.01, p = 0.04 vs. normal) and ≥ 1 daily intake of carbonated beverage (OR = 1.10, 95% CI 1.00-1.20, p = 0.03 vs. no or not daily intake). Public health interventions for improving lipid profile of adolescents are urgently needed.