ABSTRACT
Introduction Colon cancer is the third most common cancer worldwide and its incidence is increasing day by day. Provision of early management to cancer patients can lead to a good prognosis. Hence, we evaluated the risk factors, clinical manifestations and treatment outcomes for colon cancer patients in National Guard Health Affairs (NGHA), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia from January 2010 to December 2020 by comparing those results according to their age groups. Methods A retrospective cohort study was performed on 251 colon cancer patients who underwent a surgical procedure. The patients were divided into the following age groups: ≤ 50 (young), 51-60 and > 60 (old) years old. The demographic variables such as age and gender were collected. The results were classified into risk factors, clinical features and treatment outcomes. The comparison between different age groups was made using Chi-square or Fisher's exact test. The data was stored in Excel 2016 (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, USA) and analyzed using SPSS (IBM Corp, Armonk, USA). Results The results revealed that most patients were males and the median age for diagnosis was 58 years old. There were 15.1% of patients with a positive family history. Moreover, the most common anatomical position was the left side of the colon in all age groups. Most patients had moderately differentiated colon cancer in the histopathological diagnosis. Laparotomy was the most common procedure done to patients in all age groups. There was no difference between all age groups and the aggressiveness of colon cancer. Young patients (≤ 50 years) had a higher percentage to have 5-year recurrence rate (42 % vs 19% vs 25%, p-value < 0.05) in comparison to patients between 51-60 years and old patients (> 60 years) respectively. However, there was no association between all age groups and 5-year mortality rate (22% vs 9% vs 19%, p-value = 0.171). Conclusion In comparison to old patients (> 60 years), young patients (≤ 50 years) have a more rate of recurrent colon cancer. In relation to all age groups, there were no differences in terms of the aggressive presentation or 5-year mortality rates. In addition, it appears that there were some differences between our study results and worldwide results. This may be because of occupational, cultural and/or genetic variations. Further studies with a higher number of patients and multicenter data collection are highly recommended.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate medical students' knowledge of diabetic foot care management and its related factors. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study of 303 students studying at King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia conducted from June to July 2019. Data were collected using a two-part questionnaire. The first one captured student information; the second assessed student knowledge. It consists of 68 true and false questions divided into 4 subscales (risk factors, foot examination, foot complications and footwear selection). The higher the total score is, the higher the students' knowledge. RESULTS: The total average knowledge score was 55.5±5.5 out of 68. While the mean score was 14.11/16 for risk factors, 9.24/10 for foot examination, 24.21/32 for foot complications, and 7.88/10 for footwear selection subscales. Only 56.4% of students educated diabetic patients about diabetic foot risks;concurrently, only 63% performed foot examinations in diabetes patients. Students who educated diabetic patients, preformed foot exam, or attended extra elective clinical rotation in a diabetic foot team, had a significantly higher knowledge level. Conclusion: Students were found to have high level of knowledge regarding diabetic foot management. Students who educated patients about diabetic foot risk, performed foot examination on patients and students who took elective rotations in a diabetic foot care team had a higher knowledge level.