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Background: Ear health and hearing loss (HL) among infants has devastating outcomes. With most HL being deemed preventable, the assessment of one's knowledge and attitude regarding this impairment is important. In Saudi Arabia, the state of the general population's knowledge on infant HL remains unknown. Objectives: To determine and further elucidate the general population's knowledge and attitude with regard to HL in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional survey-based study conducted on the general population of Saudi Arabia. A predetermined questionnaire was translated into Arabic. This was distributed among the targeted participants in several provinces of Saudi Arabia (central, northern, eastern, western, and southern) by using an online survey via social media. The data were collected and analyzed via the SPSS program. Results: The knowledge with moderate, poor, and good was determined among 60.9%, 29.6%, and 9.4% of the participants, respectively. The participants with positive and negative attitudes were detected among 92.6% and 7.4% of respondents, respectively. Increasing age was associated with better attitude, while increased knowledge was directly related to higher educational attainment. Those who have a child with HL had nearly twice as poor knowledge as those who do not have a child with HL (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Although most of the respondents possessed a positive attitude toward infant HL, their knowledge about it seems to be lacking. Thus, there is a need to address these knowledge gaps regarding infant HL.
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INTRODUCTION: developing and developed countries have a high prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR). Severe AR has negative impacts on sleep, quality of life, and work performance. The study aimed to identify the patterns of AR among patients attending the ears nose and throat Unit (ENT) clinic at King Saud Hospital, Qassim, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: this study was a cross-sectional study conducted at the ENT clinic of King Saudi Hospital, Unaizah City, Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. We examined outpatients diagnosed with AR using an interview questionnaire and clinical examination. RESULTS: the sample included 455 patients. Of these, 23.7% were 21-30 years old, 65.7% had a family history of AR, 57.8% had no general symptoms, 75.6% reported runny nose as the most common nasal symptom, and 35.4% reported no complications. Dust was the most common trigger of AR (82.4%), 49.2% reported allergic symptoms in all seasons, 96% of patients have inferior turbinate hypertrophy, and oral histamine was the most commonly used treatment (33.2%). CONCLUSION: perineal AR and inferior turbinate hypertrophy were very common findings comparing to previous studies, further studies to assess the risk factors are highly recommended.