The association between a rotator cuff tendon tear and a tear of the long head of the biceps tendon: Chart review study.

Rotator cuff (RC) and long head of the biceps tendon (LHBT) tears are common shoulder problems presented to the orthopedic clinic. The aim of this study was to assess the association between RC and LHBT tears among a Saudi population sample. A total of 243 patients who were diagnosed with shoulder pain due to RC or LHBT tear between 2016 and 2018 using a magnetic resonance imaging scan were included in this study. Females comprised 66% of the sample, and 59% (n = 143) of the shoulders were on the right side. The mean age of the patients was 58 ± 11 years, ranging from 23 to 88 years. A significant association was detected between the LHBT and RC tears (P < 0.001). Out of 26 cases showing RC and LHBT tears, 81% had a full thickness tear, whereas 19% had a partial tear. The LHBT tears were presented significantly in 48% of cases with at least two completely torn RC compared to 10% in cases with one completely torn RC (P < 0.001). The LHBT tear was significantly observed in shoulders with RC tears including the tendons of subscapularis, supraspinatus, and infraspinatus, but not the teres minor (P < 0.001). Both types of tears were presented significantly in senior patients aged more than 65 years compared to younger patients (P < 0.01). Thus, the LHBT should be assessed carefully in shoulders with more than one RC tear or in chronic cases.

Prevalence of Obesity among Children and Adolescents in Saudi Arabia: A Multicenter Population-Based Study.

Background: Childhood obesity has increased in Saudi Arabia over the past few decades. However, a representative burden of obesity remains unclear, as most studies had relied on small samples and/or used international growth references, which may have resulted in over-or underestimations of prevalence. Objective: The study aimed to determine the prevalence of obesity among children and adolescents in Saudi Arabia using the Saudi growth chart. Methods: This population-based retrospective study included children and adolescents aged 2-19 years who visited any facility within the National Guard Health System (5 hospitals and 24 primary care centers) across Saudi Arabia between 2016 and 2021. The Saudi growth reference for children and adolescents was used for classification. Those with body mass index ≥95th percentile were considered as obese and ≥85th to <95th percentile as overweight. Chi-square tests were used to compare frequencies across groups. Results: A total of 351,195 children and adolescents were included, of which 337,316 (96%) were Saudis. Overall, about one-fifth of the population was overweight (11.2%) or obese (9.4%). The prevalence of obesity was highest among children aged 2-6 years (12.3%), and it was higher among boys (10.4%) than girls (8.3%). In terms of region, the prevalence of obesity among Saudis was highest in the Central and Eastern regions (9.9% for both). Conclusion: The findings highlight an urgent need for national interventions to focus on the upstream determinants of childhood obesity and to improve healthy options for children and adolescents in terms of food and physical activities.

Epidemiology of work-related lower back pain among rehabilitation professionals in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Occupational and physical therapists are at risk of musculoskeletal pain and injuries possibly due to their work-related activities, posture and affected body mechanics. AIMS: To investigate the epidemiology of lower back pain among rehabilitation professionals. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 259 physical and occupational therapists in rehabilitation centres in Saudi Arabia was conducted during July-August 2019, using the Modified Nordic Questionnaire. Data on different measures of lower back pain, and its consequences and risk factors were collected. Logistic regression analysis was done to identify significant predictors of lower back pain. RESULTS: Rehabilitation professionals experienced 73.7% 1-year lower back pain prevalence, 52.5% intense pain that lasted ≥ 1 day, 22.4% chronic lower back pain, 23.9% sick-leave-seeking lower back pain and 18.5% medical-care-seeking lower back pain. Difficult/impossible activities of daily living in standing up (45.5%), employment (44.0%), climbing stairs (33.9%), walking (33.0%), sitting (29.3%), sleeping and travel (29.8% each), awakening (23.0%), social life (26.2%), and personal care (15.7%) were reported. Lower back pain was responsible for stopping work in 32.5% of participants, with a mean 1.38 (±2.96) days off work during the last year. One half of participants (50.3%) were treated by physiotherapy, 25.1% by medical care, and 39.3% requested rest days and/or sick leave. Physical stress and < 10 years' experience were significant predictors of lower back pain. CONCLUSION: Prevalence of lower back pain was high among rehabilitation professionals, with a high impact on activities of daily living. Physiotherapy was the main management adopted. Educational programmes are necessary to teach proper use of body mechanics, and sports activity programmes to reduce the risk of lower back pain and arrange for proper rest periods.

Level of awareness of Saudi medical students of the internet-based health-related information seeking and developing to support health services.

BACKGROUND: Many studies are available in the literature about e-health in Saudi Arabia, however, data is limited to a few organizations and does not necessarily reflect the current and potential use of e-health for health care organizations in the country. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness of Saudi medical students of the internet-based health-related information seeking and developing to support health services and significant predictors of their practice. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 440 medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was conducted, during October/November 2019, using a previously validated questionnaire, to assess: (1) knowledge in three domains; e-health definition (13 statements), fields of application of e-health (8 statements), methods of using e-health (7 statements), (2) attitude toward using e-health (8 statements) and (3) reported practice of e-health in medical training (5 statements). A scoring system was used to calculate the total and percentage score of knowledge, attitude, and practice for each student. Multiple regression analysis was applied to identify predictors of e-health practice. Significance was considered at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Of 440 medical students, the majority were females (55.7%) and from families whose monthly income was more than 10,000SR (82.8%). Overall knowledge about e-health was unsatisfactory (percentage mean score, PMS = 71.6%), with only 43.6% of students reporting a satisfactory level. However, this level was satisfactory for fields of application (Percentage mean score-PMS = 76.6%) and unsatisfactory for the definition of e-health (PMS = 70.7%) and methods of its use (PMS = 65.7%) domains. The overall attitude towards e-health use was positive (PMS = 82.3%), with nearly three-quarters of students (73.4%) reporting a positive attitude. Generally, a good level of practice of e-health was reported by students (PMS = 84.3%), with more than three-quarters of students (78.4%) reporting good practice. Adjusting for age, gender, stream, educational grade, and family monthly income, good practice was significantly predicted with higher knowledge (t = 2.22, p = 0.03) and attitude (t = 2.11, p = 0.04) scores. CONCLUSION: This study provides basic information regarding medical students' level of awareness of internet-based health-related information seeking and developing to support health services. More resources should be directed to elevate medical students' knowledge and to motivate them to practice e-health using the available tools.

Will surgeries performed at night lead to worse outcomes? Findings from a trauma center in Riyadh.

As surgeries are performed around the clock, the time of surgery might have an impact on outcomes. Our aim is to investigate the impact of daytime and nighttime shifts on surgeons and their performance. We believe that such studies are important to enhance the quality of surgeries and their outcomes and help understand the effects of time of the day on surgeons and the surgeries they perform.A retrospective cohort study was conducted using the database from the King Abdulaziz Medical City trauma center. We selected 330 cases of patients between 2015 and 2018, who underwent a trauma intervention surgery within 24 hours after admission. Patients were aged 15 years and above who underwent 1 or more of the following trauma interventions: neurosurgery, general surgery, plastic surgery, vascular surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, and/or otolaryngology. We divided the work hours into 3 shifts: 8 AM to 3:59 PM, 4 PM to 11:59 PM, and midnight to 7:59 AM.Participants' mean age was 31.4 (standard deviation ±â€Š13) years. Most surgeries occurred on weekdays (68.4%). Complications were one and a half times more on weekends, with 5 complicated cases on weekends (1.55%) and 3 (0.9%) on weekdays. Half of all surgeries were performed in the morning (152 cases, 53.15%); 73 surgeries (25.5%) were performed in the evening and 61 (21.3%) were performed late at night. Surgeries performed during late-night shifts were marginally better. Complications occurred in 4 out of 152 morning surgeries (2.6%), 2 out of 73 evening surgeries (2.7%), and only 1 out of 61 late-night surgeries (1.6%). The earlier comparison scored a P-value of >.99, suggesting that patients in morning and evening surgeries were twice more likely to experience complications than late-night surgeries.This study may support previous research that there is little difference in outcomes between daytime and nighttime surgeries. The popular belief that rested physicians are better physicians requires further assessment and research.

Use of smartphone and perception towards the usefulness and practicality of its medical applications among healthcare workers in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: In Saudi Arabia, healthcare industry is undergoing major expansions to meet the demand of rapidly growing healthcare needs. The aims of this study were; (1) to assess the pattern of smartphone use in healthcare facilities, and (2) to determine perception towards its use among healthcare workers. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey of 351 healthcare workers (HCWs) at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was conducted, from October to November 2016, using a previously validated perception domain to measure perception towards usefulness (5 statements) and practicality (5 statements) of smartphones in clinical settings. Pattern of use of smartphones and health-related applications in healthcare facilities was also investigated. Logestic regression models were applied to identify the predictors of smartphone use and installation of health-related applications for use in healthcare facilities. Significance was considered at p-value of < 0.05. RESULTS: Utilization rate of smartphone was 42.3%, and only 6.1% of all healthcare providers reported always using applications in their practice. Reasons for use were: as a source of drug information (69.8%), for disease diagnosis (56.4%), to access medical websites (42.5%), to review guidelines and protocols related to healthcare (34.1%), for procedure documentation (23.5%), and as a source of patients education materials (22.3%). Perceptions of HCWs towards smartphone use was less than satisfactory (Overall percentage mean score = 60.4 ± 18.7), with only 11.6% reporting positive perception. After adjusting for possible confounders, the total perception mean score was a significant predictor of both smartphone use (ß = 0.033, p < 0.001) and medical applications installation (ß = 0.033, p < 0.001). Installation of medical applications was also predicted by being a physician (ß = 0.008, p = 0.024). CONCLUSION: Smartphone utilization in healthcare facilities by HCWs in Saudi Arabia is low. This could be attributed to their less than satisfactory level of perception towards its use. Smartphone use and installation of medical applications for use in health facilities were predicted by perceived usefulness and practicality of its use. Intervention from higher health authorities is necessary to enforce the importance of smartphone use in clinical practice. Conduction of further studies on the impact of smart phone use on the healthcare quality in Saudi Arabia is recommended.

Long-term disabilities after traumatic head injury (THI): a retrospective analysis from a large level-I trauma center in Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Traumatic head injuries (THI) are a critical public health problem worldwide, with more than 10 million individuals affected every year. In Saudi Arabia (SA), the burden of THI is unknown even though injury is the leading cause of death and a major cause of disability. Therefore, we aim to estimate the prevalence of long-term of disabilities among survivors of THI treated at a large level-I trauma center in Riyadh. METHODS: The study included 258 patients, who were hospitalized due to a non-fatal THI between years 2005-2014. Patients (age = 16-60 years) were contacted via the phone and information about their Activity of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activity of Daily Living (IADL) was ascertained. Univariate analyses were performed to examine patients' characteristics and to estimate the prevalence of any disability. Logistic regression was used to evaluate independent predictors of long-term disability. RESULTS: Respondents were relatively young (mean age = 24.8; SD = 9.8), predominantly males (92.7%) and the majority sustained THI following traffic crashes (91.4%). The average time since the injury was 6.8 years (range = 3-12, SD = 2.6). Close to third of the sample (32.5%) reported at least some limitations in ADL or IADL. Regression analysis suggests that a one-unit increase in Revised Trauma Scale (RTS) was associated with 31% lower odds of disability adjusting for other covariates. While responders with a below high school education were 4.7 times more likely to report a disability than those with at least a college degree (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: THI was associated with significant limitations in various aspects of everyday life. The magnitude and impact of THI in Saudi Arabia requires public health measures to prevent these injuries and to improve their health outcomes. Advocates may use these findings to educate the public about secondary and tertiary prevention and elicit support from policymakers to facilitate interventions toward reducing THI's associated disabilities.