Attitudes towards Exercise, Leisure Activities, and Sedentary Behavior among Adults: A Cross-Sectional, Community-Based Study in Saudi Arabia.

Background: Sedentary behavior has received increased attention as a threat to public health all around the world. A global effort has been made to avoid the spread of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) that are associated with poor lifestyle practices, which rely on public awareness. As a result, the purpose of this study was to analyze the attitudes toward exercise, leisure activities, and sedentary behaviour among adults in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among individuals living in the Riyadh Region in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire (26 items) used in this study was divided into four sections, and the first section comprised demographic and basic information of the respondents (6 items). The second section asked the respondents about the time spent exercising and sedentary time spent (6 items), the third section of the study comprised eight questionnaires about the frequency of sedentary activity performed during their leisure time, and the last section was about the attitude towards sedentary behavior (6 items). Descriptive and analytical statistics were done to describe the study findings. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27. Results: The current findings revealed that 44% (n = 305) of the respondents performed exercise 1-2 days a week, and 16.7% (n = 116) never performed any exercise. Furthermore, a considerable percentage of the respondents spent >4 h in a day as sedentary. Most of the sedentary time was spent on work relating activities 62% (n = 430), followed by time spent on coffee 36.4% (n = 252), business relating activity 22.5% (n = 156), and social media 8.9% (n = 62). In this study, most of the respondents agreed that sitting for a prolonged time might negatively impact their health. Most of the respondents showed positive attitudes towards sedentary behavior. Males were statistically more likely than females to exercise 1-2 days per week (p < 0.001). Being male and being married were both significantly associated with sedentary behavior (p < 0.001). In addition, there was a significant association between participants' sleeping status and physical activity per week, where those who slept 5-6 h often performed physical activity, indicating a significant difference (p < 0.001) than respondents who slept 7-8 or >8 h. The participant's age was also found to have a significant association with engaging in physical exercise (p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results of this study showed that Saudi adults are highly sedentary and inactive, though knowing the harmful consequences of inactivity. Therefore, a national active living policy must be adopted to discourage inactivity and being sedentary and encourage active living in Saudi Arabia.

Frequency of median nerve tightness and its association with upper limb functions among smartphone users of a public sector university, Karachi.

OBJECTIVE: To determine median nerve tightness in smartphone users, and to compare the upper limb functions between those with and without median nerve tightness. Methods: The cross-sectional, observational study was conducted at the Institute of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, from March 2020 to January 2021, and comprised subjects of either gender aged 20-40 years who had been using smartphone for >1 year. Body mass index was calculated. The participants were evaluated using upper extremity functional index-15. A hand-held dynamometer was used to assess handgrip strength, and a pinch meter assessed the pinch strength. Manual upper limb tension test 1 was used for median nerve tightness. Frequencies and percentages were drawn for all categorical variables. Data was analysed using SPSS 22. RESULTS: Of the 277 subjects, 198(71.5%) were females. The largest group 176(63.5%) was aged 21-25 years. The mean upper limb functional index was 84.24±15.09. Also, 113(40.8%) subjects were positive for left-side median nerve tightness and 122(44%) were positive on the right side. There was no significant association between median nerve tightness and upper extremity function (p>0.05). The association, however, was significant with the duration of mobile usage in years (p<0.05). Conclusion: Prolonged overuse of smartphone may lead to symptoms of median nerve tightness, but it was not found to have an effect on upper limb function, handgrip and pinch strength.

The role of drug information centers to improve medication safety in Saudi Arabia - a study from healthcare professionals' perspective.

Background and objective: The primary function of the Drug Information Center (DIC) is to provide drug-related information to healthcare professionals. The purpose of this research was to assess the use of drug information centers by health care the professionals to improve medication safety in Saudi Arabia. Methods: A retrospective study was carried out at King Khalid University Hospital's drug and poison information center (DPIC). During the study period, requests received by drug information specialists were saved in the DPIC questions' bank. Patients' demographic, type of drug information request, caller information, number of references used, medications, class of medication, medication error type and subclass were assessed and analyzed using descriptive analysis. Medication error types were captured based on nature of questions. Results: A total of 243 drug information inquiries were assessed. Most of the inquiries were about adult population (n = 168; 69.1%). Most drug information inquiries were received from pharmacists (n = 117; 48.1%), followed by physicians (n = 94; 38.7%), then nurses (n = 23; 9.5%). Prescribing error were the most type of medication error prevented by drug information specialists (n = 214; 88.1%) followed by dispensing errors (n = 11; 4.5%). Approximately half of the medication errors in this study were near-misses (n = 110; 45.3%), followed by potential near misses (n = 84; 34.6%). Only, (n = 49; 20.2%) were identified as errors. Conclusion: This study highlights the role of drug information specialists in providing evidence-based information and helps in preventing possible medication errors which will enhance the safety of the services provided to the patients.

Does Ramadan fasting disrupt international normalised ratio control in warfarin-treated medically stable patients?

AIM: Warfarin is commonly used in patients with thrombotic diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Ramadan fasting on warfarin efficacy by investigating international normalised ratio (INR) stability in medically stable patients. METHODS: A retrospective observational study was conducted at King Khalid University Hospital during Ramadan 2016 on fasting adult patients aged above 18 years and receiving warfarin. The INR values during pre-Ramadan, Ramadan and post-Ramadan periods were collected after satisfying the inclusion criteria. Time within the therapeutic range (TTR) during the whole period was estimated using the conventional method. RESULTS: In total, 101 patients were included in the study. The mean age (SD) was 55.8 ± 15.5 years, and 52.4% were females. The target INR range for 62.4% was 2-3, while 37.6% had a target INR range of 2.5-3.5. An upward trend in the proportion of patients with therapeutic INR was noticed during Ramadan (59.4%) as compared to pre- (56.4%) and post-Ramadan periods (53.5%) respectively. Additionally, the proportions of patients with supratherapeutic and sub-therapeutic INR were the highest and lowest, 23% and 24% respectively post-Ramadan as compared to other periods. Based on target INR categorisation, achieving therapeutic INR during Ramadan was more feasible with the low INR (2-3) compared to the high INR (2.5-3.5) target patients, 63.5% vs 52.6% respectively. TTR estimation revealed 62.4% and 37.6% of the patients had good and poor, respectively, anticoagulation status throughout the study period. CONCLUSION: Despite the changes in mean INR and proportion of patients with therapeutic INR during Ramadan compared to other non-fasting months, our results confirmed that short-term fasting during Ramadan has no significant influence on INR stability and, consequently, therapeutic efficacy in warfarin-treated medically stable patients.

Role of pharmacist during COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective study focused on critically ill COVID-19 patients.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: During the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) crisis, there has been a huge demand for medications and unprecedented utilization of intensive care unit (ICU) services that subsequently and profoundly impacted the quality of medical care provided to COVID-19 patients. This study aimed to shed light on the role of pharmacists on the health care provided to critically ill COVID-19 patients. METHODS: A retrospective study, was conducted in Diriyah hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on all COVID-19 patients admitted to the ICU between June 27th and August 15th, 2020 until patients were transferred to the medical ward, discharged, or deceased. All medication related interventions performed by pharmacists have been documented electronically, collected and subsequently categorized and analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 58.8 years (±12.98 SD), with age of >64 years in approximately 37%. Four hundred and seventy interventions (470) were made by pharmacists of which 32%, 11.7%, 4%, 2.6%, 2.1% were due to error in dosing regimens, drug duplication, missing drug information, drugs requiring prior authorization, and missing critical information, respectively; while 40.6% were due to medication shortage of which 40.3% were substituted with alternative medications. Based on the analysis of drugs involved in interventions, medication groups that were mainly associated with interventions included antibiotics (16.8%), electrolytes/minerals (11.7%) and vitamins (9.4%). CONCLUSION: During health crises such as COVID-19 pandemic, the role of pharmacists in the ICU services becomes extremely crucial for providing better patients' outcomes. Further studies should be conducted to follow up these findings in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

Prevalence and severity of dyspepsia in Saudi Arabia: A survey-based study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Dyspepsia is one of the gastrointestinal diseases that is very common worldwide. Despite its prevalence globally, which ranges between 1.8% and 57%, no study has assessed the prevalence in Saudi Arabia. This study was aimed to investigate the prevalence and severity of dyspepsia in the general population of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A modified Short-Form Leeds Dyspepsia Questionnaire (SF-LDQ) was utilized to conduct our study. The questionnaire score ranges between 0 and 32, where zero indicated no dyspepsia, a score of 1-8 indicated mild dyspepsia, a score of 9-15 indicated moderate dyspepsia and a score of higher than 15 represented severe dyspepsia. Socio-demographic data of the participants including age, gender, marital status, BMI, job description, insurance, and education level were collected. Using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21.0 (SPSS), a univariate analysis was performed to assess the association of participants characteristics with the prevalence of dyspepsia, whereas logistic regression analysis was used to correlate their characteristics with the severity of dyspepsia. RESULTS: During a period of one month, March 1st to 31st 2019, a total of 778 participants have completed the survey. Most of them were females accounting for 68% of the population, married (63.9%), middle aged (range 34-51 years old) and literate with high school education (72.3%). Ninety two percent (92%) of the study population were found to experience dyspepsia. However, there is no significant association between socio-demographic characteristics and dyspepsia or its severity as well. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of dyspepsia in Saudi Arabia is the highest in the gulf region which would potentially lead to more GI complications, and associate to poor health and economic outcomes. Education programs are essential to raise the people awareness of dyspepsia and the appropriate ways to prevent it.

Adherence to prophylactic dual antiplatelet therapy in patients with acute coronary syndrome - A study conducted at a Saudi university hospital.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate patients' self-reported adherence to dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) and determine the factors associated with premature discontinuation of DAPT. METHODS: The cross-sectional interview-based study was conducted among adult outpatients who visited the outpatient department of King Khalid University Hospital, Cardiac Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, over a period of 3 months from May to July of 2016. Medication adherence was assessed using the Self-efficacy for Appropriate Medication Use Scale (SEAMS), which is composed of 13 items with a 3-point Likert scale. RESULTS: A total of 192 patients participated in the study. The majority of the participants were male (82.1%), and the mean age was 55.66 ± 10.80 years. More than 84% (84.4%) of the patients reported that they were "confident" in taking several medications each day. The minimum and maximum SEAMS scores were 22 and 39, respectively, with the mean score being 30.8 ± 3.5. Almost all patients had moderate scores and adherence; only one patient got a score of 39. Among sociodemographic characteristics, only health insurance and income were significantly associated with the medication adherence score (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Study results concluded that patients had a moderate level of adherence towards DAPT in Saudi Arabia, however Patient education on DAPT is essential to improve adherence to medication treatment. More effective intentions and education methods should be developed to improve long-term DAPT adherence.

Attitude and knowledge of Saudi community pharmacists towards use of proton pump inhibitors.

INTRODUCTION: Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) effectively suppress acid secretion and play an important role in peptic ulcer disease and gastroesophageal reflux disease. There is a real concern about the overutilization of PPIs, which will lead to significant high cost and undesirable outcomes. Despite that most of PPIs are classified as prescribed medications, yet most of their users take them without prescription in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, it was important to understand community pharmacists practice in dealing with PPIs and to evaluate their despising pattern of these medications. METHOD: A cross-sectional survey-based study that was carried out between September and December 2017. The survey intended to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of CPs towards use of proton pump inhibitors and was built as an online survey. RESULTS: The results of this study showed that almost all CPs prescribe anti-ulcer drugs for their patients. Most of the participants (68.4%) have prescribed PPI for acute gastritis (68.4%), prophylaxis for stress ulcers (17.7%) and stress ulcer (11.1%). 54.9 percent of the participants recommend using acid suppression drugs for 1 to 2 weeks when they prescribe them to their patients. Thirty-two percent of the respondents had reported adverse events with PPIs. The study showed a significant association between length of work experience in community pharmacy and reporting adverse events. CONCLUSION: Community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia usually recommend and prescribe PPIs to their patients. Most of them have some knowledge on PPIs indications and side effects. Managing OTC PPI use in the community pharmacy setting is necessary to promote both patient and medication safety.

Evaluation of community pharmacists' knowledge about drug-drug interaction in Central Saudi Arabia.

INTRODUCTION: Although all implemented and ongoing initiatives, drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are still a global problem. Most published studies about DDIs in Saudi Arabia are carried out in hospital settings. In addition, assessing the knowledge of drug interactions in Saudi Arabia is limited. The aim of our study is to evaluate the knowledge of potential common drug-drug interactions among community pharmacists particularly in Saudi Arabia. METHODOLOGY: A crosses-sectional study utilizing a self- administered questionnaire was conducted among community pharmacy in Riyadh city Saudi Arabia. DDIs' knowledge was assessed by 26 drug pairs. Community pharmacists were asked to select the DDIs as "contraindication", "may be used together with monitoring", "no interaction" and "not sure". RESULTS: A total of 283 of community pharmacists completed the survey with response rate of 80.9%. Among the 26 drug pairs only 5 of them were identified correctly by most of the participants. To add more 3 out of the 5 pairs had a cutoff of less than 10% between the correct and wrong answer, meaning there still a majority that couldn't identify the correct answer. All the 26 pairs had a statistically significant difference between the correct and incorrect answer. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that knowledge of community pharmacists about DDIs was inadequate. Community pharmacist should have specific courses in drug interactions to cover the most possible interactions that can be seen in this setting.

Knowledge of community pharmacists about the risks of medication use during pregnancy in central region of Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacists (CPs) are the most accessible health care provider to the public, and they have huge duties to improve medication use especially among the pregnant women in their community. The objective of this study was to evaluate knowledge of CPs about the medication safety during pregnancy. METHODS: A prospective cross-sectional survey was carried out over practicing community pharmacists in a capital of Saudi Arabia (SA). Pharmacists were asked about the safety of each medicine during pregnancy. It involved both prescription-only medications (POM) and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Both descriptive and analytic statistics were utilized. For descriptive analysis, results were expressed as numbers, percentages and mean (±SD and 95% CI). RESULTS: The response rate was (71.1%). Most of the respondents (69.6%) believed that alprazolam is not safe while 22% of respondents believed that it is used on basis of risk-benefit assessment. Also, most of CPs (65.2%) said that amoxicillin is safe, but a very few of CPs (11.7%) knew that tetracycline should be used only if potential benefits may outweigh the risk. Among non-prescribed analgesics, majority of CPs (92.6%) knew that acetaminophen is safe. About dietary supplements, 48.4% of CPs reported that Vitamin A supplements are not safe. There was significant difference observed between age groups of CPs in scores of knowledge test (P = 0.001). CONCLUSION: Community Pharmacists are the most accessible health care providers who can help pregnant women with their medications use there are still gaps in knowledge where educational interventions are needed.

Formulation design and in vitro ex vivo evaluation of transdermal patches of Cinnarizine.

The aim of this study was to develop a Transdermal patch containing Cinnarizine using different ratios of hydrophilic and hydrophobic polymeric systems by solvent evaporation technique employing Polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) as plasticizer. The physicochemical compatibility of the drug and the polymers were studied by performing FT-IR spectroscopic analysis. Formulated patches were evaluated for physicochemical properties, skin irritation, in vitro drug release, ex-vivo permeation studies across rat abdominal skin and stability studies. The results of FT-IR studies revealed that there were no interactions between drug and polymers used. All the formulations exhibited uniformity in physicochemical properties. In vitro permeation studies of the formulations were performed by using Franz diffusion cells. Formulation F3 showed better permeation through rat skin (i.e., 8527.5±1.25µ/cm2 /hr) compared to rest of formulations and followed Fick's diffusion mechanism. On the basis of in-vitro drug release and ex-vivo skin permeation performance, Formulation F3 containing the polymeric blend 19:1 Hydroxypropylmethyl Cellulose (HPMC E 50cps: Eudragit RL 100) has shown optimum release in comparison to other formulations and indicated good physical stability. So it has been demonstrated that Cinnarizine can be designed as matrix type transdermal drug delivery system (TDDS) and further in-vivo evaluations were required.

Evaluation of knowledge of Health care professionals on warfarin interactions with drug and herb medicinal in Central Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate health care professionals' knowledge on warfarin interactions with drugs and herbs. METHODS: A self-administered questionnaire was developed to assess health care professionals' knowledge on warfarin interactions with drug and herb. Respondents were asked to classify 15 drugs that may effect on warfarin action as "enhance", "inhibit ", "no effect". The study sample involved health care professionals (physicians, pharmacists and nurses) from king Salman hospital, Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: About 92.2% of health care professionals identified warfarin interactions with aspirin, 4.4% for warfarin and fluoxetine. Warfarin and cardiac agents (atenolol) was correctly identified by 11.1% of respondents. In warfarin -herb interactions section, the majority of respondents (66.7%) identified the interaction between green tea and warfarin. Approximately one-third of respondents (n=33) correctly classified warfarin interactions with cardamom. No significant difference was found between the health care professionals (p=0.49) for warfarin-drug interactions knowledge score and p= 0.52 for warfarin- herb interactions knowledge score. CONCLUSION: This study suggests that health care professionals' knowledge of warfarin- drug-herb interactions was inadequate. Therefore, health care professionals should receive more education programs about drug-drug/herb interactions to provide appropriate patient counseling and optimal therapeutic outcomes.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists toward the management of acne vulgaris in Saudi Arabia.

Background and objectives: In Saudi Arabia, Acne vulgaris is a very predominant ailment and Pharmacists currently have standardized protocols at their disposal for the treatment of acne. Pharmacists often prescribe medications for minor cases of acne. Therefore, this study aimed to explore community pharmacists (CPs)' knowledge, attitudes, and practice toward acne management in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: An online cross-sectional study was conducted among CPs working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January and April 2021, using a self-administered, questionnaire, was divided into four sections that collected information from the CP's Knowledge, attitudes, and practices and the management of acne vulgaris. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26 (SPSS). Result: A total of 313 CPs were enrolled in the study who successfully returned the questionnaire. The mean score of knowledge on etiology, pathophysiology, and therapy for AV was 5.3 ± (SD = 1.5). However, the majority of CPs had a moderate level of knowledge (80.8%), followed by mild to moderate (12.8%). This study showed that CPs had an insufficient level of knowledge about ace management, about 6% of CPs have a high level of knowledge. Inadequate knowledge was revealed in their management practice, only 0.3% of CPs treated patients with acne on their own without a referral. In addition, CPs showed a positive attitude toward acne management. Conclusion: There is a need to improve CPs' understanding of acne care and to contribute to participating in organized training sessions on the management of AV.

Exploring the Attitudes of Pharmacy Students in Saudi Arabia towards Plagiarism Evidence from a Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVES: The objective of this study was to explore the attitudes towards plagiarism among pharmacy students in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted on pharmacy students at King Saud University in Riyadh to assess their attitudes towards plagiarism. The questionnaire consists of 27 items on a 5-point Likert scale (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree) that assess three attitudes about plagiarism (positive and negative attitudes, as well as subjective norms). RESULTS: A total of 415 pharmacy students took part in this research. Among the whole sample, 55.7% were male, and 44.3% were female. The findings demonstrated a moderately positive attitude towards plagiarism (30 ± 6) and subjective standards (29 ± 7) as well as a moderate negative attitude (22 ± 5). About 26.5% of students did not believe that they worked in a plagiarism-free workplace, and 45.3% of students believed that self-plagiarism should not be punished in the same way as plagiarism. CONCLUSIONS: The overall attitudes of pharmacy students were positive. Training in medical writing and research ethics in the undergraduate and graduate pharmacy curricula is mandatory.

What Has Changed in the Behaviors of the Public After the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Cross-Sectional Study From the Saudi Community Perspective.

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and represents a major public health threat that aggressively promotes increased morbidity and mortality. Changes in public behavior were more common during the pandemic to protect against the infection. Suboptimal behavioral practices for a specific disease would increase the susceptibility of the public to infection. This study aimed to determine changes in behaviors of the general public during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using an online questionnaire survey to determine the extent of public behavioral changes in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected with a self-reported survey, and analysis was conducted using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26 (SPSS). A chi-square test was performed to determine the association among variables. A P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of 348 respondents, 244 (70.1%) were male, and 270 (77.6%) had a university degree. Approximately 48% used social media to seek COVID-19 information, and 36% (n = 124) avoided large gatherings. Approximately one-fourth of the respondents always avoided public transportation, while 65.8% reported avoiding traveling to infected areas. Of the participants, 33% always washed their hands, while 36% always used an alcohol-based sanitizer. There was a significant association between age group and employment status with respect to hand washing frequency (p < 0.05). There was also a significant association between age group (p < 0.0001) and employment status and wearing of face masks (p < 0.048). Conclusion: This study highlights changes in the public's behaviors in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic for protection against the infection and reports acceptable preventative practices against COVID-19 in the Saudi community. Furthermore, continuous awareness of recommended protective measures for COVID-19 is still warranted.

Prevalence of Smoking and Beliefs and Attitude Toward Smoking Habit and Smoking Cessation Methods Among Pharmacy Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia.

Objective: The impact of pharmaceutical services on public health especially in regards to smoking cessation counseling can influence the rate of smoking cessation. The present study aims to evaluate prevalence, beliefs, and attitude of pharmacy students toward smoking habit and SC methods. Methods: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among pharmacy students at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over 4-month period from May to August 2021. The survey consisted of 22-items focused on evaluating the prevalence, belief, and attitude toward smoking habits and smoking cessation methods. Data was descriptively analyzed using a statistical package for social science version 26 (SPSS). Results: A total of 675 students completed the survey, among which 78.7 % were non-smokers and only 31.7% received education on the dangers of smoking. The most common methods of smoking cessation they heard of were consultation (58.6%), followed by use of electronic cigarettes (41.92 %) and Nicotine patch (40.7%). One-third of the surveyed students (36.8 %) agreed that specialized smoking cessation clinics enhance the efficacy of smoking cessation methods. The majority of students (80.6%) agreed to ban smoking in public places and 92.2% believed that tobacco sales to adolescents should be forbidden. Health professionals should actively participate and advise their patients to quit smoking as 89.8 % students agreed on that. Age and gender of students had significantly influenced the prevalence of smoking, history of smoking, frequency of smoking, efforts to quit smoking among smokers (p = 0.0001). Conclusion: The prevalence of non-smokers among pharmacy students is encouraging, yet level of awareness about and usefulness of smoking cessation methods is unsatisfactory. Therefore, the study clearly highlights a great need for integrating smoking cessation programs in their academic curricula to prepare them for real-world practice.

Assessing Outpatients' Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward Managing Diabetes in Saudi Arabia.

INTRODUCTION: When it comes to non-communicable diseases like diabetes, inadequate knowledge, attitude, and practice are often linked to poor health outcomes. This study aims to assess the patients' knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of diabetes in the outpatient department of a university teaching hospital in Saudi Arabia. METHODOLOGY: In this cross-sectional study, diabetes type 2 patients attending outpatient departments at a university teaching hospital, Riyadh, were assessed regarding their knowledge, attitude, and practice toward diabetes using a validated KAP scale. Descriptive and inferential analysis was done to determine the factors associated with KAP score using SPSS version 26.0 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, U.S.). RESULTS: Males made up 69.7% of the sample (n = 165), while 56.9% were between the ages of 41 and 75. The level of knowledge and practice had "good" in 37.6%, and 47.9%, respectively, but level of attitude had "positive" in 30.9% of patients. The association between knowledge tier and gender (p0.014) and insurance status (p0.008), respectively, was shown to be significant. However, the attitude tier was only significantly associated with gender (P = .003). The practice tier also showed a significant age association (P = .049). As regards, the mean scores for diabetes-related knowledge were higher only among insured participants (P = .03) than for other participants' sociodemographic factors. Meanwhile, the mean attitude scores were also higher among males (P = .006) than for other sociodemographic characteristics. A comparison of the participants' sociodemographic characteristics found no statistically significant variations in practice scores. CONCLUSION: Unfortunately, this study found that outpatient diabetes patients had insufficient knowledge, practice, and a negative attitude toward diabetes type 2. This imposes a great burden on healthcare workers and hence the healthcare system to improve patient scores via diabetes education programs or pharmacist-led patient counseling initiatives.

Psychometric appraisal of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS) Arabic-version.

Interprofessional education within healthcare has been shown to have many benefits, however, it is a relatively new educational concept within the Arabic setting. Although the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale is a commonly utilised tool to examine student attitudes, there is a lack of evidence for use of an Arabic translated version. The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate an Arabic language version of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale with Saudi nurses. Two independent translators, proficient in both English and Arabic languages, completed a forward-backward translation of the original English version of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale. Subsequently, this Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale-Arabic version was used to collect data from undergraduate nursing students enrolled at a number of Saudi Arabian universities. Exploratory and Confirmatory Factor Analyses were then performed on the scale. Six hundred and fifty-two participants were recruited. Exploratory Factor Analysis of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale-Arabic version resulted in a 15-item, three-factor model. Subsequent analysis with Confirmatory Factor Analysis and the resultant final 13-item model demonstrated a poor fit between the hypothesized model and the data. Although our three-factor model is supported by previous studies, the proposed model did not perform well on Confirmatory Factor Analysis assessment. This suggests that there may be issues of applicability of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale-Arabic version within the current cohort. The present study of the Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale-Arabic version has demonstrated some psychometric inadequacies and thus it is possible that this scale may not be appropriate for use with Saudi nurses. However further research with different professional groups is suggested to fully explore its utility within the Saudi setting.

Assessment of Saudi Mothers' Attitudes towards Their Children's Pain and Its Management.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Pain is a bothersome issue that is common among newborns and children of all ages. Pain can be managed using various pharmacological and/or non-pharmacological strategies, which can be delivered by healthcare providers or parents. The aim of this study is to assess the attitude of mothers toward their children's pain and its management. METHODS AND MATERIALS: A descriptive cross-sectional web-based study was conducted using a developed self-reported questionnaire, from March 2018 to April 2018. Participants involved were Arabic-speaking mothers of children aged between 0 and 12. The data collected included pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment methodologies utilized to treat pain and the mothers' attitude towards pain management. Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 25 was applied to analyze the data, and descriptive statistics were performed. RESULTS: As per the results of this study, the most common site of children's pain as reported by the mothers was mouth/throat (211; 52.9%), abdomen (199; 49.9%), followed by head (58; 14.5%), and finally, ears (69; 17.3%). The frequency of children's pain, as stated by the mothers, was less than once a month (196; 49.1%), once in a month (137; 34.3%), and once in a week (48; 12%). The non-pharmacological methods used by mothers at home for the management of their children's pain were as follows: letting them take rest or sleep (250; 62.6%), feeding them with fluids (228; 57.1%), applying cold packs (161; 40.4%), providing massage therapy (147; 36.8%), using warm packs (141; 35.3%), and taking them to play (119; 29.8%). CONCLUSION: The misconceptions about pediatric pain management among Saudi mothers that can affect the children's quality of life are quite noticeable. Implementing educational and awareness programs about the management of child pain could play a major role in making the parents understand the impacts of their misconceptions.

Assessment of Beliefs, Behaviors, and Opinions About Blood Donation in Telangana, India-A Cross Sectional Community-Based Study.

Background and Objectives: Blood is an essential body fluid primarily required for regulating the body's systems and maintaining homeostasis. In developed and developing countries, concern about the demand and supply for blood is increasing. The current study aims to assess the beliefs, behaviors, and opinions of the public toward blood donation. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in which a self-created questionnaire with 17-items was used for data collection. The self-administered questionnaire was disseminated between November 2019 and January 2020 through social media (WhatsApp© and Facebook©). Data was analyzed using SPSS program version 26. Results: A total of 356 questionnaires were completed with a response rate of 89%. The majority of participants were male 253 (71.1%), 336 (94.4%) considered blood donation important, 350 (98.3%) believed that blood donation saves lives, and 254 (71.3%) agreed to receive blood from voluntary donors. One-hundred sixty-seven (49.4%) were willing to donate blood voluntarily. The barriers to blood donation were fear of needles 86 (24.2%), fear of contracting a chronic disease 84 (23.6%), and lack of time 40 (11.2%). One day off (91.9%) and receiving a token 73.6% were common motivational factors for blood donation. Overall, 57% of the participants had favorable attitudes toward blood donation and 41.9% were knowledgeable. Favorable attitudes were significantly associated with being married (P = 0.018) and having university level of education (P = 0.005). Younger participants (18-29 years) had a statistically significant better knowledge than older participants (≥30 years). Conclusion: The respondents displayed positive beliefs, opinions, and motivation toward blood donation. Additionally, most of them considered blood donation an important act and a national duty of every individual and are willing to donate in the future.