Knowledge regarding Zika Virus Infection among Healthcare Providers in an Academic Tertiary Care Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study.

BACKGROUND: Zika virus (ZIKV) has become a major concern across the world. It is highly necessary for healthcare providers (HCPs) to have sufficient knowledge about such a disease. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge regarding ZIKV among HCPs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods. A cross-sectional survey study was conducted at a tertiary care center in Riyadh, KSA, during a two-month period from September 19, 2016 to November 19, 2016. Descriptive statistics were performed on data collected. For continuous variables, data were expressed as means ± standard deviations (SDs), medians, and ranges. Proportions were used to describe categorical variables. Knowledge scores were evaluated and compared by demographic characteristics including age, designation, years of practice, and gender, using the t-test/Mann-Whitney U test or the Kruskal-Wallis test, as appropriate. RESULTS: A total of 336 HCPs from different specialties (physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, and nutritionists) completed the questionnaire. Significant differences in knowledge about ZIKV were observed by participant's age. Significantly higher knowledge levels were observed among older participants (45 years or more; p=0.011). A substantial difference in the knowledge level was observed by department, with pairwise comparisons showing significant differences in knowledge scores between all departments except for Pharmacy vs. Nutrition and Nursing vs. Internal Medicine. Knowledge scores were not significantly different by years of practice. CONCLUSION: Our study showed inadequate knowledge of HCPs from different specialties about ZIKV infection which needs to be improved in terms of infection prevention and control. Awareness about ZIKV infection should be ensured and maintained among HCPs to face any possible emergence in the region.

Practices, awareness and attitudes toward self-medication of analgesics among health sciences students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Self-medication is a common practice among health sciences students in Saudi Arabia. It is known that inappropriate selfmedication may harm individuals due to increasing the risk of drug misuse or delaying a hospital visit by masking some symptoms. Thus, the aim of our study is to investigate and assess practices, awareness and attitudes toward analgesics self-medication among health science students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study in a form of electronic survey that was conducted among health sciences students from different universities in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2016. Two hundred and seventy-two students responded to the questionnaire. The electronic questionnaire survey covered demographics, self-medication practice and the analgesics consumption, attitude and awareness about the safety of self-medication practice of analgesics. RESULTS: Factors associated with high prevalence of self-medication were not significant except for age (P = 0.04). Health sciences students had adequate knowledge about the safety of analgesics consumption itself and simultaneous use of analgesics with other drugs, significantly different by college; 80% for Pharmacy, 71% for Medicine, 61% for Nursing and Dentistry, and 25% for Applied Medical Sciences and pre-professional students (p = 0.037). CONCLUSION: The occurrence of self-medication practices is distressingly high among health sciences students. It is necessary to educate the students about the side effects and drawbacks of irresponsible selfmedication.

Sickness presenteeism among health care providers in an academic tertiary care center in Riyadh.

The term sickness presenteeism (SP) has been described as the act of going to work despite having a state of health that may be regarded as poor enough to justify sick leave. SP has been observed to be prevalent among three-quarters of health care providers (HCPs). Working while sick not only puts patients at risk but also decreases productivity and increases the probability of medical errors. Moreover, SP has been identified as a risk factor for many negative health outcomes among the HCPs themselves, such as depression, burnout, and serious cardiac events. The aim of this study was to identify the reasons for and prevalence of SP and perceptions of the impact of this practice on patient safety among HCPs. A cross-sectional study was conducted, including 279 purposively selected healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists and other health care professionals) working at the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs-King Abdulaziz Medical City (MNGHA-KAMC). While nearly all of the participants (91%) believed that working while sick exposed patients to risk, the rate of SP during the past year was reported as 74%, and one fourth of respondents reported working while sick 3-4 times during the past year. More than half of the participants were not aware of the existence of a departmental policy regarding sick leave. The most common reasons reported for working while sick were not wanting to burden co-workers (71%), feelings of duty toward patients (67%), and avoiding an increased future workload caused by absence (59%). A lack of awareness regarding the existing rules and polices related to sick leave was reported by more than half of the participants. Several predisposing and enabling factors were reported as determinants influencing SP, e.g., observation of the practice of SP by peers and feelings of sympathy towards coworkers, including not wanting to overburden them, were reported to be determinants informing the decision of whether to work while sick.