Augmented human thermal discomfort in urban centers of the Arabian Peninsula.

Anthropogenic climate change has amplified human thermal discomfort in urban environments. Despite the considerable risks posed to public health, there is a lack of comprehensive research, evaluating the spatiotemporal changes in human thermal discomfort and its characteristics in hot-hyper arid regions, such as the Arabian Peninsula (AP). The current study analyzes spatiotemporal changes in human thermal discomfort categories and their characteristics in AP, using the newly developed high-resolution gridded ERA5-HEAT (Human thErmAl comforT) dataset for the period 1979-2022. In addition, the study assesses the interplay between the Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI) and El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) indices for the study period. The results reveal a significant increase in human thermal discomfort and its characteristics, with higher spatial variability in the AP region. The major urban centers in the southwestern, central, and southeastern parts of AP have experienced significant increases in human thermal discomfort (0.4-0.8 °C), with higher frequency and intensity of thermal stress during the study period. The temporal distribution demonstrates a linear increase in UTCI indices and their frequencies and intensities, particularly from 1998 onward, signifying a transition towards a hotter climate characterized by frequent, intense, and prolonged heat stress conditions. Moreover, the UTCI and ENSO indices exhibit a dipole pattern of correlation with a positive (negative) pattern in the southwestern (eastern parts) of AP. The study's findings suggest that policymakers and urban planners need to prioritize public health and well-being in AP's urban areas, especially for vulnerable groups, by implementing climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies, and carefully designing future cities to mitigate the effects of heat stress.

Knowledge and Barriers About Blood Donation and Associated Factors in Saudi Arabia: A Systematic Review.

Transfusions and blood donations are relatively risk-free medical procedures. However, attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge levels about blood donation and transfusion may influence such operations. This systematic review aims to comprehensively investigate the level of knowledge and attitudes towards blood donation in Saudi Arabia. PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect were systematically searched for relevant literature. Rayyan (Qatar Computing Research Institute, Ar-Rayyan, Qatar) was employed throughout this comprehensive process. This review included 17 studies with a total of 9,212 patients, and 4,806 (52.2%) were males. The majority of Saudis lacked awareness about blood donation and had unfavorable opinions towards it. In addition to various fears, mistrust, a lack of information, and not being approached by anyone to donate blood, participants reported that the distance to the donation site, the difficulty with transportation, the time commitment, getting a quick break from work or the office, or taking time off from home were also contributing to the negative attitudes towards blood donation. While youthful participants were more likely to contribute, Saudi university students in this study had inadequate information but positive attitudes about blood donation. Ineligibility, fear of giving blood, and inaccurate information regarding blood donation are the main deterrents to blood donation.

Postpartum Depression Prevalence and Associated Factors: An Observational Study in Saudi Arabia.

Background and Objectives: Postpartum depression (PPD) is a psychological disorder in women who recently gave birth. It can present as mild to severe depression. Multiple studies across the globe have used the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale to reveal the factors that affect the prevalence of PPD. Results from various published studies showed a high prevalence of PPD in Saudi Arabia. The objective of this study is to investigate the major factors that increase PPD and other associated factors. Materials and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was carried out at primary healthcare centres and military hospitals in Al Kharj. The study measured the rate of PPD among Saudi women during the postpartum period. We studied 279 women aged 19-45 (mean age 31.91, SD ± 6.45) in their postpartum period and followed up to 2 months after delivery. Results: The prevalence of PPD in our cohort was 32.8%. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that previous depression diagnosis (p = 0.001), lower education status (p = 0.029), unemployment (p = 0.014), and delivery disposition of C-section (p = 0.002) remained associated with an increased risk of developing PPD. Conclusions: The increasing number of Saudi women with PPD demonstrates that it is a highly prevalent condition. PPD affects not only the health of the mother but also that of her baby and other family members. Our results showed that the history of diagnosed depression, lower education status, unemployment, and delivery disposition of C-sections were independent predictors of PPD development. Raising awareness and controlling the vulnerable factors could decrease the high risk of its effects.

Severity and neurosurgical management of patients with traumatic spinal fractures in Saudi Arabia: a cross sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the most frequent cause of traumatic spinal injuries (TSIs), which account for up to 33.6% of all spinal fractures. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is one of the countries which has high rates of SCIs and bears the economic burden of that situation. METHODS: 120 patients were included in this study, using a stringent set of inclusion and exclusion criteria. The patients were followed-up from the point of triage to admission and discharge. We analysed the clinical notes of the patients to determine the severity of their traumatic spinal injuries, the neurosurgical management carried out, and other prognosticating factors such as blood transfusion and the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS). The data collected was analysed anonymously, and the confidentiality of all participants was respected. RESULTS: Most of the patients were young adults and adolescents under the age of 40 (n = 96). There was a male preponderance of 84.1%. With respect to spinal injury stratification, 55 patients had cervical spine fractures, 10 patients had cervical lacerations, 85 patients had thoracolumbar spinal fractures, and 10 patients had thoracolumbar spinal lacerations. 35 patients had other fractures documented. All 120 patients were followed up to assess the management of their traumatic spinal injuries. 66.6% (n= 80) of all patients were managed conservatively, whereas the remaining 33.3% (n=40) were managed surgically. CONCLUSION: Trauma is an important cause of spinal injuries (TSIs), and untreated TSIs may lead to poor clinical outcome, especially if the cervical region is involved.