RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a condition that occurs frequently among surgical, as well as acutely ill hospitalized medical patients, and is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Risk factors include older age, surgery and immobilization (as with bed rest, orthopedic casts, and sitting on long flights. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to identify the frequency and factors associated with occurrence of DVT among elderly patients referred to King Abdulaziz University (KAU) Hospital, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: The current study is a hospital based cross sectional study. The emergency, inpatients and outpatients' departments at KAU hospital were reviewed. We studied all the referred elderly subjects during the study period. All elderly patients (540) referred to or admitted to the hospital departments and who were clinically suspected to have DVT and subjected to Doppler examination were included in the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi square test. RESULTS: Based on the results of Doppler examination, DVT was detected in 97 (18.0%) of the studied elderly population. There were no significant differences in gender between patients who developed DVT and those who were negative by Doppler examination (p=0.018). Other comorbidities as diabetes, IHD and hypertension were significantly associated with the occurrence of DVT among the participants (p=0.05, 0.05 and 0.04 respectively). Furthermore, the other investigated factors such as being bed ridden, cancer, orthopedic cast and previous DVT were not significantly associated with the development of DVT among the studied elderly patients (p=0.42, 0.16, 0.45 and 0.75 respectively). CONCLUSION: DVT has high prevalence in Jeddah; KSA. Thrombophilia screening should be regular for elderly patients with diabetes, hypertension and bed-ridden patients with recurrent DVT or patients with other risk factors. Knowing the most common risk factors and their significance in developing DVT is essential for early detection of DVT to prevent unwanted complications for elderlies.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: During the recent decade, several studies about prevalence of symptom-based GERD have revealed increase of its prevalence. In addition to the highly disturbing typical symptoms, it has a series of known consequences and may affect the quality of life. OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) as well as their main characteristics and risk factors among the population of Arar City, Northern Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out on a sample of 302 individuals from population of Arar city from October 01, 2016 to May 30, 2017, using a researcher made questionnaire and checklist. The questionnaire was administrated in online method. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 22, using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test. RESULTS: total prevalence of GERD among the studied respondents was 61.8%. In 11.8% there was severe pain. Further, 61.8% reported loss of appetite as an associated condition, 57% reported nausea and vomiting, 55.9% indigestion, 55.4% food regurgitation, 41.4% chest pain and 35.5% headache. The main found risk factors were fatty meals in 84.9% followed by coffee drinking in 77.4%, stress in 71%, spicy food in 58.1% NSAD in 24.7% and smoking in 17.2%. There were no significant effect of sex, age, educational level, marital status or occupational status in the occurrence of GERD (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: This is the first population-based study in Arar, Northern Saudi Arabia, reporting prevalence of GERD. The rate of 61.8% was substantially high. Coffee drinking, stress, spicy food, prolonged use of NSAID, fatty meals and smoking were the reported risk factors. Population-based endoscopic studies are recommended.