RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Strabismus is the misalignment of the visual axis of both eyes caused by abnormalities in binocular vision or anomalies of neuromuscular control of ocular motility. This study aimed to assess the community knowledge, attitude, and practices related to strabismus and strabismus treatment and surgery in the Al-Jouf region of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This study utilized a quantitative cross-sectional design. The consented volunteering adult participants were randomly selected through sequential enrollment to the completion of the target sample size from five population groups constituting the Al-Jouf region of Saudi Arabia. The data were collected through an online validated self-administered questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. RESULTS: The study included 340 participants; 67.6% of them were females and 32.4% were males. Only 66.8% of participants correctly defined strabismus. Symptoms of strabismus were identified as double vision (58.5%), blurred vision (48.2%), headache (31.8%), eye fatigue (41.5%), and difficulty reading (47.1%). Regarding risk factors of strabismus, 48.5% reported family history, 39.4% reported uncorrected refractive errors, and 23.2% reported long screen time. Complications of untreated strabismus were reported as low self-confidence (39.1%), vision loss (27.6%), poor interpersonal relationships (25.9%), amblyopia (42.6%), and cosmetic stigma (14.1%). Only 45.6% of the participants agreed to marry someone with strabismus or allow their relatives to do so. The majority of participants (72.6%) would advise a strabismus patient to visit an ophthalmologist. Despite a higher knowledge regarding strabismus among females, younger agers, higher education, single persons, workers/students, and those inhabiting the capital city of the region, such association did not reach significance. CONCLUSION: The study shows a moderate level of knowledge, attitude, and practices among the general population of Al-Jouf Saudis toward strabismus. There was no significant relationship between knowledge of strabismus and any of the demographic characteristics of the participants. This might prove detrimental to the early detection and treatment of strabismus to prevent its complications and improve its outcomes and the quality of patients' lives. Institution of correlation plans are mandated by the Ministry of Health and interested stakeholders.
RESUMEN
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Middle East countries. This analytical cross-sectional study assessed knowledge, attitude towards breast cancer, and barriers to mammogram screening among 414 randomly selected female healthcare workers from multiple healthcare facilities in northern Saudi Arabia. Of the studied population, 48.6% had low knowledge, and 16.1% had a low attitude towards breast cancer risk factors and symptoms. The common barriers to mammogram screening were fear to discover cancer (57.2%) and apprehension regarding radiation exposure (57%). Logistic regression analysis found that lack of awareness regarding mammogram was significantly associated with age (p = 0.030) and healthcare workers category (ref: physicians: p = 0.016). In addition, we found a significant negative correlation between knowledge and barrier scores (Spearman's rho: −0.315, p < 0.001). It is recommended to develop target-oriented educational programs for the healthcare workers, which would empower them to educate the community regarding the risk factors and the importance of mammogram screening. Furthermore, a prospective study is warranted in other regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to understand the region-specific training needs for the healthcare workers.
