Assessment of Saudi Public Perceptions and Opinions towards Artificial Intelligence in Health Care.

Background and Objectives: The healthcare system in Saudi Arabia is growing rapidly with the utilization of advanced technologies. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the Saudi public perceptions and opinions towards artificial intelligence (AI) in health care. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional web-based questionnaire study was conducted between January and April 2024. Data were analyzed from 830 participants. The perceptions of the public towards AI were assessed using 21-item questionnaires. Results: Among the respondents, 69.4% were males and 46% of them were aged above 41 years old. A total of 84.1% of the participants knew about AI, while 61.1% of them believed that AI is a tool that helps healthcare professionals, and 12.5% of them thought that AI may replace the physician, pharmacist, or nurse in the healthcare system. With regard to opinion on the widespread use of AI, 45.8% of the study population believed that healthcare professionals will be improved with the widespread use of artificial intelligence. The mean perception score of AI among males was 38.4 (SD = 6.1) and this was found to be higher than for females at 37.7 (SD = 5.3); however, no significant difference was observed (p = 0.072). Similarly, the mean perception score was higher among young adults aged between 20 and 25 years at 38.9 (SD = 6.1) compared to other age groups, but indicating no significant association between them (p = 0.198). Conclusions: The results showed that the Saudi public had a favorable opinion and perceptions of AI in health care. This suggests that health management recommendations should be made regarding how to successfully integrate and use medical AI while maintaining patient safety.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine for functional gastrointestinal disorders among the saudi population.

Background and objective: Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a common practice among patients, who experience functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGID). Among the Saudi population, less is known about CAM use for FGID. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of CAM utilization for FGID amongst the Saudi population and determine the types of CAM used for treatment. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during February 2023 through social media platforms using questionnaires adopted from the literature. There were three sections in the questionnaire including demographic information, questions to determine the prevalence of CAM use for FGID, the types of FGID, and the types of CAM utilization, and questions on the sources of information about CAM. Multivariable logistic regression was applied to find factors associated with CAM use. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS version 26. Results: A total of 828 people participated in this study. The overall prevalence of CAM use for FGID problems was 87.2 %. There were no significant differences in CAM use for FGID problems between men (87.5 %) and women (86.3 %) (P = 0.727). The most commonly used types of CAM for FGID were ginger (73.4 %), chamomile (66.6 %), mint (61.6 %), turmeric (59.0 %), anise (55.5 %), fennel (43.1 %), and Activia yogurt©ï¸ (42.7 %). The most common FGID disorders for utilizing CAM were IBS (29.9 %), followed by constipation (29.8 %), dyspepsia (22.7 %), and bloating (17.0 %). In the multivariable regression, age, gender and employment status did not have an impact on the odds of using CAM. The subjects who had high school, university, and postgraduate education had significant odds ratios of CAM use (OR = 2.73; 95 % CI: 1.22-6.13), (OR = 4.18; 95 % CI: 2.03-8.58), and (OR = 20.85; 95 % CI: 5.51-78.80), respectively, compared to subjects who did not complete high school. Participants who had private insurance had a significant odds ratio (OR = 0.27; 95 % CI: 0.14-0.55) compared to governmental insurance. Conclusion: The use of CAM among the Saudi population is alarmingly high; however, the lack of standardized medical recommendations and treatment options may be the cause. Although there were no significant gender differences, participants with higher educational levels and private insurance coverage were more likely to use CAM for FGID. Patients suffering from FGID and limited access to medical advice and treatment options are vulnerable to being exposed to dubious and incredible information sources. Expanding access to preventative medical services, funding governmental medical websites to provide credible information, educating healthcare professionals about FGID, and conducting more research in safe and effective treatments for FGID is recommended.

Assessment of Headache Characteristics, Impact, and Managing Techniques among Pharmacy and Nursing Undergraduates-An Observational Study.

Background and Objectives: Many different forms of headaches can change or impact daily activity and quality of life, which increases the financial burden on society over time. Undergraduates who get headaches may be absent from attending lectures, perform less well on their daily tasks and academic achievement, as well as struggle to build and maintain relationships with peers and mentors. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the headache-related characteristics and managing approaches among Saudi pharmacy and nursing students at a Saudi university, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A survey questionnaire was administered in this cross-sectional study to participants at a Saudi university, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Participants included males. The sample size was calculated with Raosoft® software. Data analysis was executed using IBM Statistic SPSS, and the level of statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: A total of 236 participants completed the questionnaires. The majority, i.e., 218 (92.4%) of them, were male; in addition, 124 (52.5%) were aged between 26 and 30, 124 (52.5%) were pharmacy students, 112 (47.5%) were nursing students, and 134 (56.8%) were smokers. When asked about ever having at least one episode of headache during the week, 66.1% (n = 156) agreed that they had one episode of headache, although 57 (24.2%) of the students had a headache for five days during a week. With regard to the impact of headaches on everyday activities, only 34.7% of the students said that headache disrupted their regular activities. Almost 41% of the students agreed that headache impacted their academic performance. Nearly 34% of students (n = 79) who had headaches considered napping, while 33% (n = 64) took painkillers and anti-inflammatory medicines, and 25% (n = 59) considered taking caffeine. In this study, the participants' ages and headache severity were strongly associated (p = 0.0001). More pharmacy students (66.1%) reported having severe headaches than nursing students (14.3%) (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: The current findings revealed that most of the undergraduates suffered from headaches, and the intensity of the pain was moderate; furthermore, one in four undergraduates reported that headaches impacted their academic performance. Caffeine and simple analgesics and anti-inflammatories were used for headache relief.

Community pharmacists' knowledge, prospective and practice towards health related illness at Hajj and Umrah: A cross sectional study.

Objectives: To assess the community pharmacists' (CPs) knowledge, attitude, and perception of health-related illness among pilgrims, and to investigate the common diseases and the pattern of medications dispensed by CPs during Hajj and Umrah seasons. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia over two months in 2022, through electronic platform using prevalidated questionnaires adopted from the literature. The questionnaires were divided into 4 sections assessing the CP's knowledge, attitude, and perception about health-related illness, common dispensed agents, and required vaccination during Hajj and Umrah. Results: A total of 544 CPs, mostly between the age of 31-40 (69.9%), participated in this research. About 87.9% of the CPs received a pilgrim after performing their rituals coming to the pharmacy complaining of infection or health problem. In this study, 99.8%(n = 544), 99.6%(n = 543), and 92.7% (n = 505) of the CPs identified influenza, food poisoning, and diarrhea/gastroenteritis as the most common issues during the Hajj & Umrah season respectively. As results, anti-diarrheal agents (96.3%), painkillers (87.3%), inhalers (89.4%), and sunscreens (88.3%) were the most requested pharmaceutical agents. Additionally, 96.7%(n = 527) of the CPs agreed that vaccination is safe to be given to Hajj and Umrah pilgrims particularly for those aged ≥ 65 years, and 89.4%(n = 487) of them reported awareness of vaccines that are required by Saudi Ministry of Health. Both Influenza and meningococcal meningitis vaccines were identified by 99.8% of the CPs, but polio vaccine was identified by 33.9%. Conclusion: Community pharmacists provided pharmaceutical care services for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims. The majority of CPs had adequate knowledge about viral diseases during Hajj and Umrah and their requirement for vaccination.

Level of knowledge and quality of life among Saudi caregivers of Parkinson's disease patients: A study from a tertiary hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Purpose: We aimed to assess the family caregivers' level of knowledge and attitudes about Parkison's disease (PD), identify factors affecting their knowledge, evaluate their quality of life (QoL) and factors influencing it and to define the effect of PD on activities of daily living (ADLs) of PD patients. Method: We developed and validated a questionnaire to assess the level of knowledge and attitudes of family caregivers toward PD, effects of PD on caregivers' QoL as well as its effects on activities of daily living (ADLs) of patients from the caregivers' perspective. A scoring system was utilized and SPSS was used to evaluate the differences in responses between the groups; p < 0.05 indicated statistical significance. Results: 69 caregivers and their corresponding patients were included in the study. Family caregivers had a low level of knowledge, as reflected by a mean score of 3.45 out of 8. However, 62.3% were aware of all medications used by their patients. Additionally, the level of knowledge was associated with caregivers' gender as 57.1% of the female caregivers had medium PD knowledge scores while 58.5% of the male had low scores (p = 0.038). The level of knowledge was also associated with daily caregiving hours as only 44.5% of caregivers whom spending 0-5 h/day had medium and high knowledge scores while greater proportions with same scoring levels were found among those providing care > 5 h/day (75.0% in > 5-10 hrs; 52.4% in > 10-24 hrs; p = 0.024). Most caregivers confirmed their QoL had declined, yet the male caregivers had better QoL than females (p = 0.026). Longer caregiving time was associated with decline (p = 0.016) and severe effect on QoL of caregivers (p = 0.04). Conclusion: Caregivers of PD patients had a low level of knowledge. Female caregivers had significantly higher level of PD knowledge than their male counterparts. Low level of PD knowledge was significantly associated with shorter caregiving time per day. Longer caregiving time was significantly associated with a decline in caregivers' QoL. Increasing awareness and knowledge among caregivers is necessary to ensure better treatment outcomes and improve the QoL of both caregivers and patients.

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.

Aspirin Use among Saudi Adults: The Prevalence and Users' Characteristics.

Introduction: Despite the public routine use of aspirin as cardio-prophylaxis agent, its use is only recommended in particular situations, and not as usual primary prevention. Only few local studies investigate the use of aspirin in patients with certain diseases, but not within the public population. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of aspirin use and identify the demographic and clinical characteristics among Saudi users. Methodology: A cross-sectional study targeting Saudi adults in Saudi Arabia was conducted over a period of four months in 2021 using online Google forms. The study collected data to assess the prevalence of use, use of aspirin according to prevention type, users' characteristics and comorbidities. Additionally, a self-assessment of knowledge, perception, reasons and attitude towards aspirin use among Saudi adults was conducted. A chi-square test was used to determine the association between the variables. A P-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of aspirin use was 47%. Regarding the self-assessed aspirin knowledge, the majority of the respondents (n = 481; 62.4 %) found to have good knowledge. Less than half of the participants (n = 341; 44%) use aspirin as primary prevention agent while only 23 participants (2.9%) use aspirin as secondary prevention agent. There was a significant difference between gender and user type (p = 0.001). With regards to comorbidities, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes, and obesity were common among the primary users of aspirin. Significant associations were found (p = 0.001) between participant's user type and the following characteristics such as smoking status, past medical history, presence of comorbidities. Conclusion: Aspirin use is commonly prevalent Saudi population with good level of knowledge of the therapy; however, its popular use as primary preventive agent for CVD may necessitate medical advice based on the level of cardiovascular risk.

Glycemic Control and Management in Pharmacist-Led Diabetic Clinic vs. Physician-Led Diabetic Clinic.

Background and Objectives: Globally, diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a life-threatening disease that, if it remains uncontrolled, can lead to mortality or serious complications. Despite the noticeable benefits of clinical pharmacist in managing diabetes, some institutions in Saudi Arabia are reluctant to establish a pharmacist-led diabetic clinic for monitoring and follow-up. The objective of this study is to assess the glycemic control by comparing the reduction in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) percentage between patients followed in the pharmacist-led diabetic clinics vs. those followed in physician-led diabetic clinics. Materials and Methods: A retrospective observational study with a 12-month follow-up were used to detect the difference in the glycemic control by comparing the reduction in HbA1c percentage from the baseline, and average changes in HbA1c, fasting blood glucose (FBG), blood pressure (BP), and lipid panel between the two groups. The level of self-care was assessed by Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities (SDSCA) Questionnaire. Results: The study involved 52 patients who visited the diabetic clinic at a community teaching hospital. Exactly 24 patients were followed by the pharmacist-led diabetic clinics, while 28 were followed by physician-led diabetic clinics. HbA1c baseline was 8.7% and 8.4% for pharmacist and physician, respectively. The average difference in HbA1c for the pharmacist-led diabetic clinics vs. the physician-led diabetic clinics was not statistically significant (8.67 vs. 8.56; p = 0.77). Moreover, no difference in the glucose profile, lipid panel, and blood pressure were seen between the two groups. However, the median HbA1c change from baseline between the two groups significantly favored the pharmacist-led clinic (0.7 vs. 0.003; p = 0.04).The average of responses in all four aspects of the SDSCA (diet, exercise, blood sugar testing, and foot care) was also higher among patients in the pharmacist-led diabetic clinic. Conclusions: Pharmacist-led diabetic clinics for glycemic control and follow-up showed efficient results that encourage the comprehensive and integral inter-professional patient care.

Evaluation of knowledge of Alzheimer disease among health university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the knowledge of Alzheimer disease among healthcare students of King Saud University, Riyadh Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This cross-sectional survey was conducted via an online questionnaire using google form as the main platform to collect the data. We included Pharmacy, medical and dental students, who are studying at king Saud University, Riyadh Saudi Arabia during February to March 2019. RESULTS: A total of 671 healthcare students responded to the study, and a total of 529 participants completely filled the survey with a response rate 79%. Majority (70.1%) of the student studied about Alzheimer disease in their college life, only 16.6% were not and 13.2% of them not remember. Most of the respondents 373 (70%) answered correctly and said that Alzheimer disease is related to mental disorders, although majority of 73.5% knew that Alzheimer disease is a Neurodegenerative disease. There was significant difference in knowledge score of medical and dental students (p = 0.001), Pharmacy and dental students (p = 0.003) respectively. CONCLUSION: Saudi healthcare students have variation in knowledge about Alzheimer disease. To increase levels of knowledge, it is necessary to provide adequate education Programme and training is needed in healthcare colleges. We suggest further studies with large sample sizes to identify the effectiveness of Alzheimer disease education programs healthcare schools are warranted.

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.

Prevalence of mental disorders among patients attending primary health care centers in the capital of Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of common mental disorders at primary health care (PHC) centers in Saudi Arabia using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study carried out at a single PHC center in Riyadh city, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A self-medication questionnaire was utilized to collect the data. The prevalence of mental disorders has assessed by the Self-Reporting Questionnaire that consists of 20 items with binary answers (Yes/No). RESULTS: This study reports that the prevalence of mental disorders among patients attended primary health care center was 28.5%. Moreover, prevalence did not significant differ by sociodemographic (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of mental disorders was slight high. The rates of untreated mental disorders necessitate the healthcare makers in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to implement efficient strategies to halt the progression of untreated mental disorders.

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.

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.

Community pharmacist perception and attitude toward ethical issues at community pharmacy setting in central Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study is to identify the community pharmacist perceptions and attitudes toward ethical issues at community pharmacy setting in Saudi Arabia. METHOD: A cross-sectional, descriptive, and qualitative survey of community pharmacists was conducted and the survey questions were pre-tested by a pharmacist with extensive experience in ethical issues. Based on the result of a pilot study the questionnaire was used with some modifications and the final questionnaire was sent to the participants by handing over in person, mail or Email. RESULTS: 45.7% Often discuss ethical issues with their patients, while only 2.1% never discuss it. 40.6% often record the ethical concern whereas only 1.9% of them never do so. 31.5% reported that patients initiate ethical issues. DISCUSSION: 28.3% of the pharmacists initiate the discussion. The barriers that limit discussing ethical issues with their patients were lack of time due to other obligations assigned to the community pharmacist (69.2%), lack of reliable resources (10.7%), not interested in the subject (10.1%), lack of knowledge on ethical issues (4.8%), and other reasons (5.3%). Recourses are books (37.7%), internet web sites (31.1%), and brochures (26.8%). Only a minority of respondents had access to computer databases (15.8%) and other resources (1.3%). Most perceived ethical problems were: being asked for hormonal contraception, dispensing a drug for unreported indication (69.2%), dispensing dose of medicine for a child that is outside the SNF limits (68.9%), unwanted professional behavior about controlled drugs (66.6%), a colleague insisting on unethical behavior (65.0%), a colleague has done something unethical for the first time (64.7%), suspecting that a child is being abused (63.3%) prescribing on private scripts for suspected medications of possible abuse (60.7%) and terminally ill patient asks for a diagnosis or prognosis (52.9%). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study assured the need of Saudi health authorities to implement a code of ethics for pharmacy practicing to cover all aspects of ethical issues.

Community pharmacists' attitudes toward dispensing errors at community pharmacy setting in Central Saudi Arabia.

PURPOSE: The main objective of this study was to survey pharmacists' attitudes toward dispensing errors in community pharmacy settings in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia was conducted over a period of 6 months from March through September 2012. A stratified random sample of eight hundred registered pharmacy practitioners was collected all over Riyadh region. Statistical analysis was done using SPSS version19.0 for windows (SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois). RESULTS: The response rate was almost 82%. The majority of the respondents are young adults (90.2%). The median for years of registration of respondent pharmacists was 9 years (range 1-37 years). About 62% (407) of the respondents have a positive response while only 37.8% (n = 248) have a negative response in this respect. The major factors identified were pharmacist assistant (82.2%) and high workload (72.5%). The most appreciated factors that help reducing dispensing errors are improving doctors' hand writing and reducing work load of the pharmacist (82.9% and 82.8% respectively), having drug names that are distinctive (76.1%) and having more than one pharmacist in duty (75.5%). CONCLUSION: In conclusion, majority of community pharmacists indicated that the risk of dispensing errors was increasing and most of them were aware of dispensing errors. It is obvious from the study results that dispensing errors is a big concern for community pharmacy practice in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the professional organizations and Pharmacy Boards in Saudi Arabia to determine standards for the profession.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Probiotics Among Saudi Health Care Students-A Cross-Sectional Study From Saudi University in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.

Probiotics offer a variety of health benefits for the digestive system, atopic eczema, and immune system. Future healthcare providers should know more about probiotics to advise their patients and the general public appropriately. The purpose of the study was to evaluate health science students' knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) on the use of probiotics in various health conditions. A cross-sectional study was conducted among health college students using a self-administered online questionnaire. The study participants were selected using the convenience sample approach. statistical package for social science (SPSS) software was used to analyze the data. The Kruskal-Wallis test and Mann-Whitney test were used to assess the statistical differences between sociodemographic data in knowledge, attitude, and practice variables. Of the 517 respondents, 56.3.0% of health science students had moderate knowledge of probiotics. More than one-third had positive attitudes, and 53.4.2% had positive practices. There was a significant difference in knowledge (P < .001), practice score (P < .001), and attitude score (P < .001) among different demographic data. Less than half of students said that their curricula did not include any information on probiotics. In addition, the majority of students agreed that probiotics were helpful for gastrointestinal health (87.3%), followed by immune health (73%), ulcerative colitis (61.9%), and irritable bowel (59.6%). The most information resources for probiotics were media (64%), and friends (60.7%). Health science students in Saudi had a fair level of knowledge of probiotics. Probiotics education in health science school curricula might increase students' understanding of the topic and improve probiotic prescribing in the future.

Availability and needs of herbal medicinal information resources at community pharmacy, Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia.

A cross-sectional survey of community pharmacists in Riyadh region, Saudi Arabia was conducted over a period of 6 months from July through December 2011. Data collection was carried out using a structured self-administered questionnaire. The survey questionnaire consisted of a brief introduction to the study and eleven questions. The questions consisted of close ended, multiple-choice, and fill-in short answers. A stratified random sample of one thousand and seven hundred registered pharmacy practitioners all over Saudi Arabia were randomly chosen to respond to the survey. The data from each of the returned questionnaire were coded and entered into Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 19 software (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) which was used for statistical analysis. Only one thousand four hundred one pharmacists responded to the survey (response rate is 82.4%) with a completely answered questionnaire. The study results show that 59.7% of the participants sometimes discuss herbal medicine use with their patients, while only 4.25% never discuss it. The study shows 48.5% of participated pharmacists record herbal medicine use sometimes where only 9.4% of them never did so. However, with regard to initiation of the discussion, the study shows that 44.3% of the respondents reported that patients initiate herbal issue discussion while 20.8% reported that pharmacists initiate the discussion. This discussion was reported to be a one time discussion or an ongoing discussion by 14.3% or 9.9% of the respondents respectively. According to the study results, respondents reported that the most common barriers that limit discussing herbal medicines' use with their patients were lack of time due to other obligations assigned to the community pharmacist (46%), lack of reliable resources (30.3%), lack of scientific evidence that support herbal medicine use (15.2%), or lack of knowledge of herbal medicines (13.4%). Yet, a small number of respondents was concerned about interest in herbal medicines (9.1%) and other reasons (2.4%). So it is urgent to ensure that pharmacists are appropriately educated and trained. Extra efforts are needed to increase the awareness of pharmacists to adverse drug reactions reporting system at Saudi Food and Drug Authority. Finally, more consideration to herbal issues should be addressed in both pharmacy colleges' curricula and continuous education program..

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.

Clinical Knowledge, Attitude, and Perceptions of Community Pharmacists Towards Pharmacogenomics - A Cross-Sectional Study from Saudi Arabia.

Background and Aims: It is crucial to provide healthcare personnel with the necessary knowledge and understanding of genetic testing and pharmacogenomics. The purpose of this study is to assess the knowledge, attitudes, views, and considerations of Community pharmacists (CPs) about pharmacogenomics and genetics. Methods and Materials: A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted among practicing pharmacists Between January and February of 2022. Participants were recruited through a convenient sampling technique. A total of 23 item questionnaires were used to assess the Knowledge Attitudes, Views, and Considerations toward Pharmacogenomics among pharmacists. Results: The mean age of the CPs were 28.45±7.29(Std). Among the CPs, 38.4% (98 of 255) of them were correctly identified human chromosomes, and the majority of them 73.3% knew that adverse reactions can be caused by genetic changes in the human body. A total of 194 CPs agreed that certain drugs can be affected by genetic changes in the patient. In this study, one-third (33%) of the CPs were found to have good knowledge, while most (66.3%) of the CPs were found poor knowledge of pharmacogenomics and genetics. Furthermore, the knowledge score is significantly different concerning the qualification of the CPs (p=0.0001). Conclusion: The current findings, demonstrated a majority of the CPs found a lack of knowledge and understanding regarding pharmacogenomics and its perspectives, there is a need to increase awareness among CPs to reduce the knowledge gap of pharmacogenomics and genetics.

Vincristine-Induced Neuropathy in Patients Diagnosed with Solid and Hematological Malignancies: The Role of Dose Rounding.

BACKGROUND: Vincristine is a vital constituent of chemotherapeutic regimens. Vincristine-induced neuropathy is a challenging adverse effect that impacts quality of life and treatment course. The dose rounding of chemotherapies is a strategy that is commonly used in clinical practice. Nevertheless, the frequency of developed neuropathy in vincristine first-time users and the potential association with dose rounding remains elusive. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted on patients administered vincristine for the first time between 2016 and 2022 using the King Saud University Medical City (KSUMC) database. Patients were stratified into pediatric and adult groups. Neuropathy frequency, its association with demographic and clinical parameters, and the Impact of dose rounding were assessed using SPSS software version 28. RESULTS: Approximately 34.6% of patients were diagnosed with neuropathy after vincristine administration. Autonomic neuropathy was common among affected adults and pediatric patients (55.1% and 56.1%, respectively), while cranial neuropathy was more frequent in pediatric patients. Higher BSA (p = 0.038) and Scr (p = 0.044) in the pediatric group, the presence of respiratory comorbidities (p = 0.044), and the use of azole antifungals (p < 0.001) in the adult group were significantly associated with neuropathy episodes. The rounding-up of vincristine doses was significantly associated with increased neuropathy occurrence (p < 0.001), while dose rounding-down was significantly associated with a decrease in neuropathy in both groups of patients (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that autonomic neuropathy is the most common vincristine-related neuropathy, regardless of the patient's age. Dose rounding is a significant determinant of vincristine-induced neuropathy in both groups. Further studies are needed to evaluate the variables that exacerbate or prevent neuropathy associated with the first-time use of vincristine.