The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of computer vision syndrome among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

PURPOSE: To estimate the prevalence of computer vision syndrome (CVS) among university medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after establishing remote learning during COVID-19 pandemic and to compare settings of electronic device usage and patterns of CVS protective measures applied by students before and during this pandemic. METHODS: This is an observational descriptive cross-sectional study which included 1st to 5th year medical students who were actively enrolled at the governmental colleges of medicine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the COVID-19 lockdown. The sample size was estimated to be 287 medical students. Participants were asked to volunteer and fill an electronic online questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 300 medical students were included in this study. 94.0% reported at least one symptom of CVS, while 67% reported having more than three symptoms. The most frequently reported symptoms were musculoskeletal pain (84.3%), headache (71.1%) and dry eyes (68%). Thirty-eight percent of the students experienced more severe symptoms, while 48% experienced more frequent symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Risk factors for having three or more symptoms were being a female (p < 0.001) and using electronic devices for longer periods (6.8 h ± 2.8) during COVID-19 lockdown (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: CVS prevalence during COVID-19 era among medical students is high. This necessitates increasing the awareness of CVS and its preventive measures.

Prevalence of gastro-esophageal reflux in diabetic patients at a tertiary hospital in Central Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the prevalence of gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) among diabetic patients and to investigate GERD's potential association with diabetic complications, and patients' sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used the GERD questionnaire (GerdQ) in 403 diabetic patients attending the outpatient clinics at King Khalid University Hospital, King Saud University Medical City, King Saud University; a tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between January and February 2019. On the basis of a cuto GerdQ score of 8, we distinguished GERD and non-GERD groups. RESULTS: Gastro-esophageal reflux disease prevalence was 44.9%. Of the diabetic patients with GERD, 76.8% were female (pless than 0.001). Gastro-esophageal re ux disease patients were older (mean age: 55.27, p=0.038) and had a slightly higher body mass index (BMI) than non-GERD (32.04 versus, 30.20 p=0.006), respectively. Smokers in the GERD group were 1.7% versus 7.2% in the non- GERD group (p=0.007). Peripheral numbness (p=0.023) and nephropathy (p=0.041) were more prevalent in patients with GERD, while myocardial infarction was more prevalent in non-GERD subjects (p=0.038). On multi variable analysis, the only independent GERD risk factors were female gender (p=0.013) and age more than 65 years (p=0.007). CONCLUSION: Gastro-esophageal reflux disease prevalence in diabetic patients was 45%. Diabetic patients with GERD were more often female and older than 65 years. None of the other tested factors (BMI, smoking status, diabetes mellitus duration, therapeutic plan, or diabetic complications) showed signi cant di erence between GERD and non-GERD groups.