Introduction:Impairment in kidney function leads to disturbed thyroid physiology. All levels of the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis may be involved, including alterations in hormone production, distribution, and excretion, and even CKD progress with hypothyroidism.Aim of Work:To assess the prevalence of hypothyroidism among chronic kidney disease patients.Materials and Methods:A cross-sectional analysis was conducted in the nephrology department of security forces hospital from January 2015 to February 2018. Biochemical tests (includes blood urea, serum creatinine, PTH, total T4, TSH) were carried out to all participants.Results:Out of 255 CKD patients in the present study, 166 patients had no hypothyroidism, 43 had subclinical hypothyroidism, and 46 had hypothyroidism. The percentage of hypothyroidism among CKD patients was 34.9%, including dialysis patients and 17.66% after exclusion. Out of 24 peritoneal dialysis patients in the current study (P = 0.03), 7 had subclinical hypothyroidism and another 7 had hypothyroidism. In addition, out of 139 hemodialysis patients (P = 0.02), 20 patients had subclinical hypothyroidism and 18 had hypothyroidism. The majority (67.36%) of CKD patients were in CKD stage 5 and had no hypothyroidism (45.10%). Only 29 (11.37%) patients in CKD stage 5 had hypothyroidism and 28 (10.89%) patients had subclinical hypothyroidism. T4 was higher in nondialysis patients, whereas TSH and PTH were higher in dialysis patients.Conclusion:The prevalence of hypothyroidism among chronic kidney disease patients was high and increased with the decrease in estimated GFR.

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Objectives: To investigate the clinical dental students’ knowledge on the proper dental setting during COVID-19. Methods: Using multicenter cross-sectional study, a 10-items questionnaire was distributed in April 2020 among senior dental students from two dental schools. It comprised three main domains: demographic questions, questions investigating student’s access to the proper recommendations of dental settings during COVID-19 and the specific recommendations questions. Results: The questionnaire was sent to 654 clinical dental students and the total number of respondents were 267 representing a response rate of 40.83%. The overall knowledge mean was low (1±0.92). Gender was not a statistically significant factor affecting the knowledge score (P > 0.05). Most of the participants never visited the Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Saudi CDC) website and received no guidance or advice regarding proper dental practices during COVID-19. A statistically significant relationship was observed between the mean knowledge score and access to knowledge variables (P < 0.05). Conclusion: It was noted that clinical dental students have low knowledge on the proper dental settings during COVID-19 pandemic that was recommended by the Saudi CDC guidelines and they must be equipped with adequate knowledge from reliable sources to overcome their insufficiencies such as a well-structured and dynamic curriculum. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3768 How to cite this:Aljarbou FA, Bukhary SM, Althemery AU, Alqedairi AS. Clinical dental students’ knowledge regarding proper dental settings for treating patient during COVID-19: A cross-sectional study. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(2):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.2.3768 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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Background: To assess the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of oral anticoagulant therapy users, different types of instruments are available, either general or specific tools like Duke Anticoagulation Satisfaction Scale (DASS). These tools allow the clinician to adjust the treatment regimen to focus on increasing anticoagulation adherence and reduce adverse clinical outcomes. This study aims to validate the translated Arabic version of DASS to assess the satisfaction level of patients using oral anticoagulants in the Arab population.Methods: The Duke Anticoagulation satisfaction scale (DASS) was translated into the Arabic language using MAPI group services. DASS was administered to 505 patients receiving anticoagulation with warfarin or apixaban. The generic scale measuring the quality of life EQ-5D-5L was also administered. Psychometric properties were assessed by Confirmatory Factor Analysis, internal consistency (Cronbach’s Alpha), exploratory factor analysis, convergent and divergent validity, and the correlation between the DASS and demographic variables, clinical characteristics, and the EQ-5D-5L instrument.Results: 439 subjects answered all the questions. From a total of 25 items, 22 grouped into three factors (limitations, positive impact, and negative impact). Each factor had good internal consistency (Cronbach Alpha 0.78–0.88). All the three factors correlated consistently with EQ-5D-5L measuring generic quality of life.Conclusion: The psychometric properties of the Arabic DASS version were comparable to the original English version. The Arabic version of the DASS showed very good reliability and validity. It can be used by health care professionals in other settings of anticoagulation clinics to assess patient’s satisfaction and limitations to anticoagulant treatment.