The prevalence of sedentary behavior among university students in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: A considerable body of research has demonstrated that reducing sitting time benefits health. Therefore, the current study aimed to explore the prevalence of sedentary behavior (SB) and its patterns. METHODS: A total of 6975 university students (49.1% female) were chosen randomly to participate in a face-to-face interview. The original English version of the sedentary behavior questionnaire (SBQ) was previously translated into Arabic. Then, the validated Arabic version of the SBQ was used to assess SB. The Arabic SBQ included 9 types of SB (watching television, playing computer/video games, sitting while listening to music, sitting and talking on the phone, doing paperwork or office work, sitting and reading, playing a musical instrument, doing arts and crafts, and sitting and driving/riding in a car, bus or train) on weekdays and weekends. RESULTS: SBQ indicated that the total time of SB was considerably high (478.75 ± 256.60 and 535.86 ± 316.53 (min/day) during weekdays and weekends, respectively). On average, participants spent the most time during the day doing office/paperwork (item number 4) during weekdays (112.47 ± 111.11 min/day) and weekends (122.05 ± 113.49 min/day), followed by sitting time in transportation (item number 9) during weekdays (78.95 ± 83.25 min/day) and weekends (92.84 ± 100.19 min/day). The average total sitting time of the SBQ was 495.09 ± 247.38 (min/day) and 58.4% of the participants reported a high amount of sitting time (≥ 7 hours/day). Independent t-test showed significant differences (P ≤ 0.05) between males and females in all types of SB except with doing office/paperwork (item number 4). The results also showed that male students have a longer daily sitting time (521.73 ± 236.53 min/day) than females (467.38 ± 255.28 min/day). Finally, 64.1% of the males reported a high amount of sitting time (≥ 7 hours/day) compared to females (52.3%). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, the total mean length of SB in minutes per day for male and female university students was considerably high. About 58% of the population appeared to spend ≥7 h/day sedentary. Male university students are likelier to sit longer than female students. Our findings also indicated that SB and physical activity interventions are needed to raise awareness of the importance of adopting an active lifestyle and reducing sitting time.

Evaluation of Global Dystonia Rating Scale as a predictor of unfavorable outcomes among acute antipsychotics poisoned patients.

Worldwide, acute antipsychotic poisoning results in high morbidities and mortalities. Though extrapyramidal syndromes are commonly associated, the extent of extrapyramidal syndromes in relation to the severity of antipsychotic poisoning has not been addressed yet. Thus, this study aimed to assess the Global Dystonia Rating Scale (GDRS) as an unfavorable outcomes predictive tool in acute antipsychotic poisoning. A cross-sectional study included 506 antipsychotic-poisoned patients admitted to Tanta University Poison Control Center, Egypt, over three years was conducted. The mean GDRS was 9.1 ± 16.7 in typical antipsychotic poisoning, which was significantly higher than that of atypical antipsychotics (4.2 ± 11.5) (p = 0.003). Patients with GDRS> 20 showed significantly higher liability for all adverse outcomes (p < 0.05). However, poisoning with typical antipsychotics was associated with significantly more cardiotoxicity (p = 0.042), particularly prolonged QRS (p = 0.005), and intensive care unit (ICU) admission (p = 0.000). In contrary to the PSS, which failed to predict the studied adverse outcomes, GDRS significantly predicted all adverse outcomes (p < 0.000) for all antipsychotic generations. In atypical antipsychotics, GDRS above three accurately predicted cardiotoxicities, prolonged QTc interval, and respiratory failure with Area under curves (AUC) of 0.937, 0.963, and 0.941, respectively. In typical antipsychotic poisoning, at higher cutoffs (7.5, 27.5, 18, and 7.5), cardiotoxicities, prolonged QTc interval, and respiratory failure were accurately predicted (AUC were 0.974, 0.961, and 0.960, respectively). GDRS is an objective, substantially useful tool that quantifies dystonia and can be used as an early reliable predictor of potential toxicity in acute antipsychotic poisoning.

Validity and reliability of the Arabic sedentary behavior questionnaire among university students aged between 18-30 years old.

PURPOSE: The study aimed to test the validity and reliability of the Arabic version of the sedentary behavior questionnaire (SBQ). METHODS: A total of 624 university students (273 males; 351 females, mean age = 20.8 years) were recruited from Taibah University, Madinah, Saudi Arabia. For criterion and constructive validity (n = 352), the Arabic SBQ was compared with total sitting time from the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-short form (IPAQ-SF) and the International Physical Activity Questionnaire-long form (IPAQ-LF). For concurrent validity, the English and Arabic SBQ versions were given concurrently to bilingual university students (n = 122) once. For test-retest reliability, the Arabic SBQ was given twice to participants (n = 150) at a one-week interval. RESULTS: Sitting time of IPAQ-SF (7th question: sitting time on weekdays) and IPAQ-LF (21st question: sitting time on weekdays and 22nd question: sitting time on weekends) correlated significantly with total sitting time/week of the Arabic SBQ (r = 0.29, p = 0.003; r = 0.14, p = 0.02, respectively). Motorized transportation measured with the IPAQ-LF correlated significantly with time spent driving in a car, bus, or train from the Arabic SBQ on weekdays and weekends (r = 0.53, p < 0.001; r = 0.44 p < 0.001, respectively). The total sitting time of the Arabic SBQ was inversely correlated with BMI (r = -0.18, p = 0.001). The correlations between the Arabic and the English SBQ versions ranged from 0.25-0.96; p < 0.001 on weekdays and 0.50-0.90; p < 0.001 on weekends. Moderate to good reliability was also found between test and retest for all SBQ items and total score during weekdays (0.72 to 0.8), and weekends (0.64 to 0.87), with exception of the 7th item "play musical instrument", ICC = 0.46). Mean difference of test-retest of the Arabic SBQ was not significantly different from zero for the total sitting time of the Arabic SBQ (t = -0.715, P = 0.476). CONCLUSION: The Arabic SBQ had satisfactory levels of reliability, with total sitting time of the Arabic SBQ correlating significantly with sitting times derived from IPAQ-SF, IPAQ-LF, and the English SBQ versions. Hence, the Arabic SBQ can be used as a tool to measure sedentary behavior among adult Arabs aged between 18 to 30 years old in future epidemiologic and clinical practice.