Violence against Health-Care Workers in Governmental Health Facilities in Arar City, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Violence against health-care workers (HCWs) showed increasing worldwide concern. No previous studies addressed violence against HCWs in the Northern region, Saudi Arabia. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of violence against HCWs in public hospitals and primary health-care centers in Arar city, KSA, and to identify its associated factors. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 352 HCWs in the Ministry of Health (MOH) facilities in Arar city from 1st October to 31st December 2018. Consented HCWs completed a structured self-administered questionnaire which was modified from the WHO questionnaire for violence. RESULTS: Out of 352 health-care workers, 171 (48.6%) reported exposure to violence during work in the past year. The verbal violence was the most common form experienced (83%). Physicians were the main exposed group (59%). Being non-Saudi HCWs, older with longer duration of experience, working in hospitals, working in the emergency room, and working in evening or night shifts were significantly associated with more exposure to violence. The unmet demand for the patient and deficient staff number were the leading reasons for aggression. Only 16.4% of assaulted HCWs reported the violent acts to the higher health affairs authority with the most frequent reasons for nonreporting were their perception that it was useless and their fear of negative consequences. CONCLUSIONS: Violence against HCWs in Arar city, KSA, is a prevalent problem. Improving health security system and increasing staffing and their training on proper dealing with violence are highly recommended. Also, enforcing rules and regulations is an important demand to control and prevent violence against HCWs.

Effect of autism on parental quality of life in Arar city, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: The quality of life (QOL) of the families of children with autism is lower than that of families of normal children or children with other disabilities. The study's aim was to describe the severity of effect on the domains of the QOL of caregivers of autistic children and to identify the characteristics of caregivers and children associated with impaired QOL. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study included 84 parents of autistic children attending developmental abnormalities clinic in Arar city during January 1 to March 31, 2019. Parents of autistic children were interviewed using an Arabic version of the short-form 36 to assess their QOL. A mean score of <50 was considered to indicate poor QOL. Collected data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 20.0). A Chi-square test was used for comparison between categorical variables. RESULTS: Of 84 caregivers, 63.1% had impaired QOL. The main domains affected were energy/fatigue and role limitations resulting from emotional problems. Female gender, unemployment, and low income of caregivers were significant factors associated with poor QOL. Autistic children of the first birth order and with long duration of the disease were more likely to be associated with poor parental QOL. Gender, income, occupation, and duration of illness were associated with poor quality of life, but this was not statstically significant. CONCLUSION: Slightly less than two-thirds of the caregivers had impaired QOL. Caregivers of autistic children need social and emotional support to help them to cope with this disability.

Services satisfaction of type 2 diabetic patients attending Arar's diabetic center, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To determine type 2 diabetic patients' satisfaction with the services provided by the Diabetic Center, Arar, Saudi Arabia, and to assess the relationship between patients' satisfaction and their diabetic control. Methods: An observational cross-sectional study, carried out in 322 patients at the Arar Diabetic Center, Arar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January and April 2018. A systematic random sampling technique was applied to include every second type 2 diabetic patient attending the center. We interviewed the type 2 diabetic patients using a predesigned questionnaire tested for validity and reliability. Results: The mean age of the studied population was 48.5±13.05. The overall satisfaction rate was 65.8%. There was a significant association between patient satisfaction to both self-reported health status (p=0.001) and mode of treatment (p=0.02). Regarding service related factors: 78% of patients were satisfied with the time spent during consultation; 58.7% were satisfied with information given regarding the disease; 58.7% were dissatisfied with dietary advice; and 44.7% were dissatisfied with information given regarding medications. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) was controlled in 64% of patients. There was a statistically significant association between patients' dissatisfaction and poor diabetic control. Conclusion: Two-thirds of the patients were satisfied with the services provided by the Diabetic Centres of Arar city, Saudi Arabia. The study recommends emphasis on patient education and addressing patient needs and worries.

Leprosy in a high-prevalence Egyptian village: epidemiology and risk factors.

BACKGROUND: The epidemiology of leprosy in rural Egypt is unknown. This prospective household survey was conducted in a high-prevalence Egyptian village in order to explore the epidemiologic characteristics of the disease and to determine the possible socioeconomic and HLA genotype risk factors. METHODS: The subjects of the study were the residents of Kafr-Tambul village in the Dakahlia governorate, Egypt. There were 10,503 inhabitants of the village, of whom 9643 (91.8%) had a complete visual skin examination, and suspected leprosy patients were subjected to histopathological examination and slit skin smears. Each household was interviewed to record personal data on family members, family size, education, occupation, crowding index at sleep, social score and source of water supply. Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class II genotypes were analyzed in all leprosy patients and in a number of both household (N = 124) and non-household (N = 30) contacts. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of clinical leprosy in the village studied was 24.9/10,000 (95%CI = 16.3-37.6). Individuals above the age of 40 years were 4 times more likely to develop leprosy (OR = 4, P= 0.01). The degree of education, crowding index at sleep, social score and source of water supply were found to be unlikely to increase the risk of leprosy (P > 0.05). The frequencies of HLA-DR2 and -DQ1 were significantly associated with leprosy (OR = 3.33 and 5.4; CI = 0.95-12.07 and 1.08-30.19, respectively, all P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides the first picture of the epidemiology of leprosy in a high-prevalence village in rural Egypt. Leprosy detection campaigns should be initiated and directed towards high-prevalence villages. Provision of leprosy control activities in rural health units is necessary in order to detect new cases. The risk for leprosy is associated with HLA-DR2 and -DQ1 markers, and these markers appear to increase personal susceptibility to leprosy in this village.