RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Antenatal care is vital for pregnant women and fetuses. However, the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has hindered access to care worldwide, resulting in missed appointments. Therefore, assessing the quality of antenatal care during the pandemic is crucial. This study evaluated the care provided at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in Saudi Arabia and suggested areas for improvement. METHODS: This retrospective medical records review involved 400 pregnant patients who received antenatal care at King Abdulaziz University Hospital in the past two years. A checklist was used to collect patient data, including demographics, antenatal care visits, ultrasounds, gestational age at first visit and ultrasound, prior cesarean section and preterm delivery, and virtual clinic attendance during the COVID-19 pandemic. Statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 25 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). RESULTS: The sample had a mean age of 30±6 years, and most participants (87.8%) were Saudi women. Over half of the participants did not attend any antenatal follow-up visits, and the majority had only one ultrasound. Only a small proportion of mothers attended virtual clinics during the pandemic. Having a prior cesarean section and a parity of 1-3 were positively associated with ultrasound attendance, while prior preterm delivery was positively associated with antenatal visits and virtual clinic attendance. CONCLUSION: This study highlighted the importance of improving antenatal care quality at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, especially during COVID-19. To achieve this, strategies such as increasing visits, ultrasound attendance, and virtual clinic access should be considered. By implementing these recommendations, the hospital can enhance care and promote maternal and fetal health.
RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Sleep is crucial to human's health and essential for a person's wellbeing. It is involved in multiple physiological mechanisms, such as metabolism, appetite regulation, immune and hormone function, and cardiovascular systems. The National Sleep Foundation recommends 7-9 h of sleep each night for adults. Short (<7 h) and long (<9 h) sleep duration has been reported to be associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality. AIM: 1) To assess the prevalence of short sleep durations among Saudi adult population. 2) To examine comorbid medical condition's association with short sleep duration. METHODS: A nation-wide quantitative cross-sectional study using an online self-administered constructed questionnaire during the period from August to October 2018 was conducted. The questionnaire included demographic characters, such as age, gender, education level, height, and weight. As well as some of the participants' habits such as consuming coffee and/or tea, smoking status, and other habits known to be associated with shorter sleep hours. The questionnaire also included self-reported duration of sleep and history of diagnosed medical illnesses. RESULTS: The study included 805 adult Saudi participants with ages ranging from 15- to 60-year old and mean age of 21.8 ± 10.7-year old. About 63% of the participants were females. It was established that almost half 49.6% of the participants sleep for <7 h daily, and 39.3% of them sleep for 7-9 h. CONCLUSION: About half of Saudi adults do not get enough hours of sleep. Especially, people who are married, above 30-year old, students or tea drinkers (P < 0.05): furthermore, people with medical comorbidities such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia had a higher association with short sleep duration. Last, sleep deprivation adversely affects the physical wellbeing and quality of life of participants, demonstrated in bad mood, somnolence, and tiredness during the day time.