RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with high morbidity. The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and types of cardiovascular complications among patients with SLE in the Aseer region of Saudi Arabia. METHOD: This study is retrospective record-based research conducted at Aseer Central Hospital in the Aseer region from 2020 to 2022. We conducted a comprehensive review of the medical records of patients. RESULTS: Out of the 189 patients diagnosed with SLE, 18.0% (34 out of 189) experienced cardiovascular complications. Of the patients who experienced cardiovascular complications, around two-fifths (15/34) fell between 35 and 44 years (44.12%), females represented (31/34) 91.20%, the majority were nonsmokers (32/34) 94.0%, (6/32) 17.65% were diabetic, (17/34) 50.0% had hypertension, and (13/34) 38.24% had vasculitis. Pericarditis and myocarditis are seen in (5/34) 14.7% of each of the cases, endocarditis accounts for (4/34) 11.7% of the cases, a myocardial infarction occurs in (7/34) 20.6% of patients, coronary artery disease is prevalent in (14/34) 38.2% of cases, and valvular lesions at (5/34) 14.7%. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the prevalence of cardiovascular complications in SLE patients is crucial for healthcare providers to tailor treatment plans and preventive measures to address this aspect of the disease.
RESUMEN
Medical students are the category of academic population with the highest levels of stress. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of academic stress among medical students in Saudi Arabia and to identify its associated factors. This cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine at King Khalid University, Abha. The Medical Student Stressor Questionnaire (MSSQ) was used to evaluate the stress caused by different factors. A total of 422 medical students participated in this study. Among the participants, 115 (27.3%) were male and 307 (72.7%) were female. The highest percentage of students were perceiving moderate to severe stress due to academic-related stressors (97.1%), followed by teaching- and learning-related stressors (93.9%) and group activities-related stressors (88.3%). The lowest domain in which students perceived moderate to severe stress was drive and desire-related stressors (65.8%). The mean percentage of students who perceived moderate-to-severe stress in all domains of stressors was 85.5%. We can conclude that medical students have a high degree of stress, and we emphasize the importance of implementing stress management programs to teach students how to handle stress in order to avoid negative effects on their health and academic performance.