Conversations and Misconceptions About Chemotherapy in Arabic Tweets: Content Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Although chemotherapy was first introduced for the treatment of cancer more than 60 years ago, the public understanding and acceptance of chemotherapy is still debatable. To the best of our knowledge, no study has assessed the conversations and misconceptions about chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer on social media platforms among the Arabic-speaking populations. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to assess the types of conversations and misconceptions that were shared on Twitter regarding chemotherapy as a treatment for cancer among the Arabic-speaking populations. METHODS: All Arabic tweets containing any of the representative set of keywords related to chemotherapy and written between May 1, 2017 and October 31, 2017 were retrieved. A manual content analysis was performed to identify the categories of the users, general themes of the tweets, and the common misconceptions about chemotherapy. A chi-square test for independence with adjusted residuals was used to assess the significant associations between the categories of the users and the themes of the tweets. RESULTS: A total of 402,157 tweets were retrieved, of which, we excluded 309,602 retweets and 62,651 irrelevant tweets. Therefore, 29,904 tweets were included in the final analysis. The majority of the tweets were posted by general users (25,774/29,904, 86.2%), followed by the relatives and friends of patients with cancer (1913/29,904, 6.4%). The tweets were classified into 9 themes; prayers and wishes for the well-being of patients undergoing chemotherapy was the most common theme (20,288/29,904, 67.8%), followed by misconceptions about chemotherapy (2084/29,904, 7.0%). There was a highly significant association between the category of the users and the themes of the tweets (χ240= 16904.4, P<.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings support those of the previous infodemiology studies that Twitter is a valuable social media platform for assessing public conversations, discussions, and misconceptions about various health-related topics. The most prevalent theme of the tweets in our sample population was supportive messages for the patients undergoing chemotherapy, thereby suggesting that Twitter could play a role as a support mechanism for such patients. The second most prevalent theme of the tweets in our study was the various misconceptions about chemotherapy. The findings of our exploratory analysis can help physicians and health care organizations tailor educational efforts in the future to address different misconceptions about chemotherapy, thereby leading to increased public acceptance of chemotherapy as a suitable mode of treatment for cancer.

A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Use of Information Technology by Selected Students of Health Colleges of a Saudi University.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the use of information technology (IT) among students of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmacy in Prince Sattam Bin AbdulAziz University, Al-Khraj, Saudi Arabia (PSAU). STUDY DESIGN: Across-sectional survey. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: From September 2014 to January, 2015. METHODOLOGY: Aclose-ended questionnaire consisting of 30 multiple choice questions (MCQs) was distributed to the students. The questions were related to their access to computers, skills and training, computer activities, and internet access. Data analyses and descriptive analyses for various variables were performed using SPSS version 17.0. RESULTS: An overall response rate of 84.9% (488 out of 575) was obtained. All of the students (100%) had an access to the computers. Most of the students (61.9%) used computers for academic purposes. Amajority of the students (74.4%) preferred the use of powerpoint presentations aided by marker-and-board method for teaching. For communication from the colleges, 62.9% of the respondents preferred it through the email; 100% of the students had an email account. All of the students (100%) used internet; 83.1% considered the information as accurate. The internet was used by 47.6% of the students for seeking the medical information. CONCLUSION: All of the students had an access to ITand used it for their educational purposes.

Clinico-pathological patterns and survival outcome of colorectal cancer in young patients: western Saudi Arabia experience.

BACKGROUND: The prognosis of young colorectal cancer (CRC) patients has been addressed by several studies but with contradictory results. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the clinico-pathological features of young Saudi patients with CRC in addition to displaying their survival outcome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, young CRC patients (≤ 40 years) diagnosed between 2007 and 2011 from 4 centres in western Saudi Arabia, were included. Clinico-pathological features, tumor markers, dates of disease relapse and death were collected. Survival parameters were compared with those of older Saudi patients, reported in previous studies. RESULTS: One hundred and sixteen young patients with CRC were identified (32.2% rectal, 67.8% colon). Some 44% were metastatic while 32.7% had stage III at diagnosis. Patients with grade 3 tumors made up 29.4% of the total while 49.5% had positive lymphovascular invasion (LVI), 56% had a lymph node (LN) ratio ≥ 0.2 and 40.2% were K-ras mutant. Median disease-free survival (DFS) and overall survival (OS) in non-metastatic cases were 22.8 and 49.6 months respectively with better median DFS in K-ras wild compared to mutant patients (28.5 vs 20.9 months, p=0.005). In metastatic cases, median OS was 19.5 months. These survival outcomes are inferior compared to those of older Saudi patients reported in prior studies. CONCLUSIONS: Young CRC patients present more commonly with advanced stage and a high incidence of adverse prognostic factors such as LVI and high LN ratio. Young CRC patients seem to have worse survival compared to older Saudi patients.

Chemotherapy-induced febrile neutropenia in patients with breast cancer. A multivariate risk assessment model for first cycle chemotherapy.

OBJECTIVE: To identify factors that increase the risk of developing febrile neutropenia (FN) during the first cycle of chemotherapy in breast cancer patients. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we reviewed the records of 211 patients with confirmed breast cancer treated with chemotherapy at the Princess Norah Oncology Center, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between January 2010 and May 2012. Statistical analysis was conducted using descriptive analysis, univariate, and multivariate logistic regressions. A multivariate regression of FN occurrence in the first cycle was developed. RESULTS: The median age of patients was 48 years. Febrile neutropenia was documented in 43 (20.3%) of 211 patients. Twenty-one (49%) of the 43 patients had FN during the first cycle of chemotherapy. A multivariate logistic regression revealed that age (odds ratio [OR] 1.059, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.007-1.114), non-anthracycline and/or taxane-based chemotherapy regimens (OR of 39.488; 95% CI: 4.995-312.187), and neo-adjuvant chemotherapy (OR of 8.282; 95% CI: 1.667-41.152) were the most important independent risk factors of FN. CONCLUSION: Identifying risk factors of FN may help to target high-risk patients with granulocyte colony-stimulating factor prophylaxis and reduce FN incidences, with subsequent morbidities and mortalities.

Blood pressure control among type 2 diabetics.

OBJECTIVE: To assess blood pressure (BP) control in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 (DM type 2) treated in primary health care. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in primary health care at King Fahad Military Complex Hospital in Dhahran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, between August 2003 and February 2004, to assess blood pressure control in type 2 diabetics. A sample of 403 medical records of type 2 diabetic patients was selected using systematic random sampling after ordering the medical record numbers. The data were collected through a pre-coded checklist. RESULTS: Hypertension was found in 57.8% of diabetic patients with no statistically significant difference between males and females. The mean age of diabetic patients was significantly higher in hypertensives than non-hypertensives (p=0.001). The mean duration of hypertension was significantly higher in females (p=0.02). There were only 14.2% of hypertensive diabetic patients in whom blood pressure was controlled. Poor control was significantly associated with obesity, and a higher rate of complications. Blood pressure control correlated positively and significantly with the age of patients, and negatively with duration of diabetes and hypertension. The most commonly prescribed antihypertensive were angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors in 29.3%, followed by angiotensin receptors blockers in 24.1%, and the least prescribed drug was thiazide diuretic. CONCLUSION: Blood pressure in diabetic patients needs to be given particular attention from all health care professionals, especially primary care family physicians, who should follow the new guidelines for better control of blood pressure, and fewer complications. Patient's awareness should be increased, through continuous health education with different modalities.