Motivational factors influencing undergraduate medical students' willingness to volunteer during an infectious disease pandemic in Saudi Arabia, a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: Healthcare outbreaks, especially infectious disease pandemics, often stretch the healthcare systems to its limits. Healthcare systems have no option other than being supported by the participation of young and motivated healthcare providers (HCPs) in their undergraduate medical studies during their prevention and control internship program during the outbreak. Understanding key motivation factors influencing HCPs are vital to ensure their effective participation in such situations. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 410 undergraduate medical students at Qassim University in Saudi Arabia with the aim to describe the motivation factors that affect their willingness to volunteer during a pandemic. An online survey questionnaire was conducted. RESULTS: 410 participants of which 239 (58.29%) were female, 108 (26.34%) were in their third academic year and 129 (31.46%) were between 21-22 years of age. More than 70% of participants showed willingness to volunteer during a pandemic. Their willingness to volunteer was motivated by distance of workplace to home, availability of transportation, being vaccinated, access to health care for self and family if affected, and provision of specialized training. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare administrators and policy makers need to address these factors effectively to ensure the availability of skilled and motivated healthcare providers during a pandemic.

Prevalence, patterns and contributing factors for tobacco usage amongst Saudi population - analysis from SHIS 2013.

OBJECTIVE: The present study aimed to determine the prevalence, patterns and contributing factors for tobacco usage amongst Saudi population. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between April and June 2013, a cross-sectional study was organized among 10735 individuals aged 15 years or older. The survey consisted of face-face interview for collecting data on socio-demographics, tobacco usage, diet, physical activity and comorbidities. Univariate and multivariate binary logistic regression was applied to check for the association of prevalence (both smoked and smokeless) with socio-demographic factors. The strength of association was examined by approximating odds ratios (OR) with their 95% CI using SPSS software and p-value set at < 0.05. RESULTS: A total of 10195 respondents aged from 15 to 101 were considered. Overall prevalence of current smoking was 12.8%. Daily smoking was reported by 12% of the population. Sex, age group, education, married and occupation were strong predictors of tobacco use in both univariate and multivariable model. From multivariable model, men were 14.54 times more likely to smoke tobacco (aOR 14.54, 95% CI 11.07-19.11) when compared with women. Respondents between 15 to 30 years, 31 to 45 years, were 3.36 times (aOR 3.36, 95% CI 2.29-4.93) and 3.51 times (aOR 3.51, 95% CI 2.47-4.98) more likely to smoke tobacco when compared to >60 years. CONCLUSIONS: The results of present study indicate a significant, but differing purpose of sex, age group, education, marital status and work status on tobacco usage in the country.

Personal and family-related factors on willingness to volunteer among undergraduate medical students during COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe personal and family-related factors affecting undergraduate students' willingness to volunteer during the pandemic. This cross-sectional study was conducted on undergraduate medical students at Qassim University in Saudi Arabia through an online survey. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A pre-validated online questionnaire on willingness to volunteer during the pandemic was distributed through various messenger groups and social media. The questionnaire comprised two sections to collect demographics and how likely the volunteers work during the pandemic in different circumstances. The distribution of these parameters was reported by frequency and proportion for categorical variables. In addition to descriptive analytics, a chi-square test was used to compare key explanatory parameters between the low and high likelihood of volunteering. Data were analysed using IBM SPSS statistical software (version 25, Armonk, NY, USA). RESULTS: There was a high likelihood of willingness (60.7%) to volunteer among undergraduate medical students. However, there was no statistically significant difference in baseline parameters like gender, academic year, age (in years), marital status, children, and elderly dependents between the high and low likelihood of volunteer (p >0.05). However, a statistically significant difference indicated the best description of one's living arrangement between volunteers' high and low probability (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggested that undergraduate medical students can be motivated to volunteer effectively in this pandemic by ensuring personal and family protection. This is vital to optimally redistribute the work burden and effectively channelize the workforce during a pandemic situation.

Rhinoscleroma: a clinicopathological study from the Gulf region.

INTRODUCTION: Rhinoscleroma is a chronic progressive inflammatory disease of the upper respiratory tract. We report a clinicopathological series from the Gulf region. METHODS: The clinical and pathological features of patients diagnosed with rhinoscleroma at three main hospitals in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain over a 20-year period are presented. Archived glass slides and paraffin blocks from these patients were retrieved from the pathology files for review. Special stains were performed whenever indicated. Biopsy material and clinical data from 25 patients formed the basis of this study. RESULTS: Most of the patients were young females with a median age of 24 years. The nose was involved in all cases with frequent extension to other parts of the upper respiratory tract. The provisional clinical diagnoses included syphilis, midline granuloma and malignancy. The histological differential diagnoses included leprosy, malakoplakia and metastatic renal cell carcinoma. CONCLUSION: Rhinoscleroma is rare in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Awareness of possible clinical presentations and early diagnosis will significantly reduce the morbidity caused by this disease.

Concurrent pilomatrix carcinoma and giant pilomatrixoma.

A 52-year-old man presented with a large, fungating mass on the inner aspect of his left thigh and a smaller hard mass on the inner aspect of his left knee with normal overlying skin. Both lesions had first been noted by the patient 1 year previously and for the first 6 months had a similar appearance until the thigh mass rapidly increased in size and fungated. Pathology of the large thigh lesion showed pilomatrix carcinoma while that of the smaller knee lesion was typical of pilomatrixoma. The pilomatrix carcinoma was widely excised and there has been no evidence of recurrence or metastasis after 3 years. The clinical course of the thigh lesion suggested that pilomatrix carcinoma may arise from a pre-existing pilomatrixoma. On review of the literature, pilomatrix carcinoma of the lower limb may be more likely to metastasize than those on other sites.

The possible role of the age of the human host in determining the localization of hydatid cysts.

Cystic hydatid disease or cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a cyclozoonotic infection distributed world-wide. The morbidity attributable to the infection depends on the size of the cyst(s) and the organ(s) involved. The cysts are most commonly found in the liver and lungs but certain locations have been reported to be more prevalent in children and/or young adults than in older subjects. In order to identify the relationship, if any, between the age of the patient and the site of involvement, the age and cyst distribution of 92 cases of CE were analysed. Lung, brain, spinal and orbital hydatid cysts were more commonly seen in younger patients whereas other sites were preferentially involved in older patients. The factors that determine the final localization of the cysts are discussed. It is concluded that age somehow alters the host-parasite relationship and thus affects the organ distribution of the cysts.

Oral infiltrating lipomas.

Infiltrating lipomas are unusual benign tumours of mesodermal origin which infiltrate adjacent skeletal muscle and tend to recur after excision. We report three previously unrecorded cases that developed about the mouth, and describe the clinical characteristics of these lesions, together with those of the seven previously reported cases. We have identified a number of differences from oral lipomas that could be of diagnostic value.

True caecal diverticulitis.

Nine patients (six females and three males), median age = 27.5 years (range 13-36) with caecal diverticulitis are presented. All underwent surgery with a suspected diagnosis of acute appendicitis. Per-operative diagnosis was possible in five cases, two cases were thought to have other benign pathology, but malignancy could not be excluded in the remaining two cases. Local excision was carried out in five cases, a right hemicolectomy was performed in the rest. Histology showed true diverticuli in eight cases, severity of the inflammation made it difficult to comment on the ninth case. Postoperative barium enema was carried out in six cases, which showed no further diverticuli in the colon. We conclude that preoperative diagnosis of caecal diverticulitis is difficult, and that true solitary caecal diverticuli present in a younger age group than the false caecal and ascending colon diverticuli and that they are probably congenital in origin.

Phycomycosis of the abomasum in Camelus dromedarius.

Two cases of phycomycosis of the abomasum in dromedary camels are described. In one of the cases there is evidence of spread to the liver. The pathology and pathogenesis of the disease are discussed. We believe this is the first report of phycomycosis in Camelidae.

Novel method of skin substitution in plastic surgery.

A skin substitute has been developed by growing a large number of epidermal cells from a skin biopsy (1 cm2) taken from burn patients. In tissue culture the cells divide and grow quickly to form a monolayer sheet. These sheets were then trypsinized into free cells, which were applied onto the wounds of two patients suffering from full skin thickness burns. The cultured epithelial grafts continued to thicken and expand successfully until they became confluent with the surrounding epidermis. All the wounds healed successfully. Clinically and histologically these cultured epithelial autografts were proven to be of the same quality as split thickness skin grafts.