The outcomes of patient care are improved by adequate knowledge, practical skills, and positive attitude. Currently, there is a lack of data on medical research activities among resident doctors in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to evaluate the perception, barriers, and research attitudes among various residency programs running in different cities of Saudi Arabia. A total of 434 surgical and medical residents participated in the current study. A cross-sectional study encompassing multiple training centers in the eastern province of Saudi. Convenient sampling technique was used to include all the working training residents. A self-administered questionnaire was formulated for data collection. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data. The mean age of the residents with various specialties was 27.83 ± 2.41 years. Approximately 61.7% had participated in research, while 38.3% had never participated in any research. A total of 26% of junior and 44% of senior residents have one publication only. While 11% of junior and 9% of senior residents have three publications or more. Inadequate facilities for research, lack of baseline research skills, and personal commitments were the reasons which over 60% of respondents had agreed on. Institutional reasons: lack of professional supervisor support and lack of research curriculum in the training program was reported by 308 (71%) and 305(70.3%) residents, respectively. A lack of interest for research was prevailed more in males (19%) compared to females (14%) (OR 1.43, 95% CI: 0.86–2.38, p-value 0.17). A subset of residents had one or three publications, while some had none. A lack of baseline research skills and inadequate facilities for scientific explorations, time, and funds were the main constraints among training residents. However, several residents had a positive attitude toward research but fewer publications. Thus, training in medical research methodology should be obligatory in the residency curriculum in all specialties. Further research is needed.

OBJECTIVES:To determine awareness about hepatitis C among 4th -year medical students at Dammam University, on hepatitis C and possible associated factors.MATERIALS AND METHODS:A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire comprising questions on awareness of hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission, screening of the population, symptoms, complications, prevention, and treatment.RESULTS:A total of 201 students participated, with a response rate of 79.8%. About 75% of students had a poor grasp of HCV transmission while the awareness of <25% of students was fair. More than half of students had fair knowledge about screening, prevention, and treatment of HCV. The majority of students were familiar with the clinical presentation and complications of HCV. The overall awareness of the 4th -year medical students on HCV infection was fair, with no significant difference between males and females.CONCLUSIONS:Overall grasp of hepatitis C by the studied group was fair. However, there were serious gaps in their knowledge, which need to be filled or modified, especially knowledge about transmission which was poor.

Background Falls are dangerous to the health of older adults and can impact their functional status leading to frailty. The use of potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) among older adults may lead to adverse health outcomes and increase the risk of falls. Polypharmacy increases the incidence of falls. Beers criteria by the American Geriatric Society is one of the many criteria used to detect PIMs. It assesses the appropriateness of drug prescriptions (i.e., correct dose, duration, and indications) to ensure the safety of these drugs, reducing drug interactions and decreasing the hazards of side effects. This epidemiological study aims to explore the association between polypharmacy and Beers criteria with the risk of falls in the elderly. Method A total of 387 outpatients aged 60 or older were interviewed in person. The patients were recruited from the University Hospital and the Family and Community Medicine Center in Khobar city, Saudi Arabia, between the period of November 2021 to March 2022. All patients were able to walk independently. The survey began by collecting patients’ demographics, gathering medication history, and asking three key questions to detect the risk of falls which was developed by the Center of Disease Control (CDC). Polypharmacy (defined as concurrent use of five or more medications) and PIMs (defined as use of one or more medications in the Beers list) were examined against risk of falls in the elderly. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate adjusted Odds Ratios (ORs). Result A total of 387 patients participated in the study; 62% were male, and most participants belonged to the 60 < 65 years age category (47.80%). Among all patients, 55% had a high risk of falling, and 21% of patients had fell during the past year. Polypharmacy applied to 50.90% of all patients, while Beers criteria positive group applied to 51.42%. Risk of falls and prior falls were associated with polypharmacy both before and after adjustment. Conclusion The results showed a significant association between risk of falls with polypharmacy and PIMs, and more than half of our study population had a high risk of falls. Of those at a higher risk, one out of five had indeed experienced a fall in the last 12 months. Higher rates of falls were associated with older aged patients, lower educational levels, female gender, and cardiovascular medications.

This study was carried out in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients to assess their knowledge, attitude and practice about fasting during Ramadan and to identify the sociodemographic determinants of the knowledge, attitude and practice. Methods: A total of 107 T2DM patients were interviewed at a diabetes clinic in the Eastern Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire containing knowledge, attitude and practice questions about fasting during Ramadan was used to collect data. Data about age, gender, city of residence, nationality, level of education, and history of diabetes in family were also collected. Descriptive and inferential statistics were carried out using IBM-SPSS Version 21. Results: The mean total score for knowledge, attitude and practice was 16.5 ±3.72 (out of 27). The individual scores for knowledge, attitude and practice were: 9.67±2.53 (out of 16), 4.10±1.28 (out of 6), and 2.77±1.08 (out of 5), respectively. Gender (OR: 4.08, 95% CI: 1.05,15.79 and p<0.041), education (OR: 0.068, 95% CI: 0.008,0.594, p<0.015) and family history (OR: 5.086, 95% CI: 1.095, 23.630 p<0.038) were identified as independent determinants of the total score. Conclusion: Gender, Family history of diabetes and Education are determinants of knowledge, attitude and practice regarding fasting during Ramadan in the T2DM patients. A significant knowledge practice gap exists that necessitates further strengthening of the Pre-Ramadan education program for T2DM patients.