RESUMO
Background Undescended testis (UDT) or cryptorchidism is a common pediatric surgical presentation. The accepted time for surgical correction (orchidopexy) is when the patient is aged from six months, and should ideally be completed before one year of age. In Saudi Arabia, the median age at the time of orchidopexy is 25 months, exceeding the recommended surgery time. Objective The objective of the study was to determine the factors that cause delayed presentation of UDT among children in Saudi Arabia. Methods A cross-sectional, nationwide study targeting the general population of Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted in November 2022 using a validated questionnaire distributed through social media platforms. Results A total of 2360 participants were enrolled. Over half (54.92%) had not heard about UDT. Further, 48.5% of the participants did not know the age of UDT presentation, and 49.1% had no idea about the treatment modality. Moreover, 13.9% had known someone diagnosed with UDT, while 17.68% discovered UDT after more than a year. In addition, 1.5% had previous experience with UDT, and 22.86% were diagnosed after more than a year. There was a significantly high level of knowledge among participants who had experienced UDT. The three most common reasons for delaying the intervention for UDT patients were a lack of community awareness of UDT, parents' ignorance and neglect, and a lack of early screening programs (22.3%, 21.7%, and 19.7%, respectively). Conclusion Our data demonstrated a significant lack of awareness of UDT among the Saudi population since 1296 (54.92%) of the participants had not heard about UDT. The presence of such an awareness gap necessitates cultural education about the topic of UDT by all capable facilities, including medical schools, hospitals, and primary healthcare centers.
RESUMO
Introduction Medical undergraduates' educational programs and clinical experiences are important factors in determining their preferred future career path. Unfortunately, the cardiac surgery specialty is experiencing a decline in medical graduates due to many influencing factors as a lack of involvement with the cardiac surgery specialty and a lack of training centers. A detailed evaluation of the student's knowledge and perceptions about cardiac surgery is required to assess the career options in a specialty like cardiac surgery. This study aims to evaluate medical students' knowledge and perceptions of the cardiac surgical specialty. Methodology This is a cross-sectional study that was approved by the institutional research board of Umm Al-Qura University. Adapting a previously published questionnaire data to fit our scope and aims. Necessary adjustments were made adhering to the cardiac surgery experts' instructions. Data was collected through an electronic survey by Google Forms and distributed through social media apps. Results A total of 637 students participated in the study. The majority (75.2%) admitted to having little knowledge of the specialty of cardiac surgery, and 62.8% reported no interest in it. In addition, 88.9% had never done a cardiac surgery rotation before. One of the top concerns of becoming a cardiac surgeon (45.2%) was the amount of time spent studying and working. Conclusion The findings of our study highlight the value of using innovative and targeted learning methods for medical students to enhance their knowledge and pique their interest in cardiac surgery since it was evident that there was a misperception regarding the scope of cases dealt with by cardiac surgery as opposed to other surgical subspecialists.
