Occupational stress has a significant impact on student learning and thereby on the contribution that such institutions can make to society. This affects organizational performance by reducing productivity and efficiency which affect the organization negatively. The aim of the current study was to determine the factors associated with occupational stress and their relationship with organizational performance at one of the private universities in Sudan. A total of 150 male and female employees from different departments and with various educational levels in the main building of the university were randomly selected. Data was collected using a questionnaire with background questions, job stressors such as role conflict and ambiguity, lack of participation in decision making, lack of authority, workload, unsatisfactory working conditions and interpersonal relationships, and statements about the effect on organisational performance. Questions were based on three-and four-point scale. Responses were grouped in terms of scores to show the level of job stress. Descriptive statistics was carried out using SPSS programme. Results indicated that on average the employees experienced high degree of job stress. Job stressors affected the general physical health of employees, their job satisfaction and performance as well as their commitment negatively. Similar findings were reported in other studies. The study recommended that the university needs to elevate the situation and resolve all the factors affecting the employees by for example increasing the number of staff needed to perform the tasks and/or decreasing the number of students enrolled.Keywords: Higher Education; Occupational Stress; Organizational Performance; Sudan IntroductionStress is a prevalent problem in modern life (Smith, 2000;Chang & Lu, 2007). In 1964, Selye was the first to use the term "stress" to describe a set of physical and psychological responses to adverse conditions or influences (cited from Fevre et al., 2003). Occupational stress can be defined as a disruption of the emotional stability of the individual that induces a state of disorganization in personality and behaviour (Nwadiani, 2006). A stressor may be defined as any "demand made by the internal or external environment that upsets a person's balance and for which restoration is needed" (Herbert, 1997;Larson, 2004). Job stressors may refer to any characteristic of the workplace that poses a threat to the individual (Bridger et al., 2007). They affect organizational performance by reducing productivity and efficiency which affect the organization negatively (Dua, 1994;Brown & Uehara, 2008;Reskin, 2008). Theories of Occupational StressThere are several theories of occupation stress, in this section, the "person-environment fit theory, the "demand-control" theory and the "cybernetic and systems" theory will be the selected theories since they are prevalent and central to the literature on occupational stress (Fevre et al., 2003). Moreover, they are representative of the range of theories in t...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the most common cause of death and disability worldwide. Saudi Arabia, one of the middle-income countries has a proportional CVD mortality rate of 37%. Knowledge about CVD and its modifiable risk factors is a vital pre-requisite to change the health attitudes, behaviors, and lifestyle practices of individuals. Therefore, we intended to assess the employee knowledge about risk of CVD, symptoms of heart attacks, and stroke, and to calculate their future 10-years CVD risk. An epidemiological, cross-sectional, community-facility based study was conducted. The women aged ≥40 years who are employees of Taibah University, Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah were recruited. A screening self-administrative questionnaire was distributed to the women to exclude those who are not eligible. In total, 222 women met the inclusion criteria and were invited for the next step for the determination of CVD risk factors by using WHO STEPS questionnaire: It is used for the surveillance of non-communicable disease risk factor, such as CVD. In addition, the anthropometric measurements and biochemical measurements were done. Based on the identified atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk factors and laboratory testing results, risk calculated used the Framingham Study Cardiovascular Disease (10-year) Risk Assessment. Data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism 7 software (GraphPad Software, CA, USA). The result showed the mean age of study sample was 55.6 ± 9.0 years. There was elevated percentage of obesity and rise in abdominal circumference among the women. Hypertension (HTN) was a considerable chronic disease among the participants where more than half of the sample had it, i.e., 53%. According to the ASCVD risk estimator, the study participants were distributed into four groups: 63.1% at low risk, 20.2% at borderline risk, 13.5% at intermediate risk, and 3.2% at high risk. A comparison between these categories based on the CVD 10-year risk estimator indicated that there were significant variations between the low-risk group and the intermediate and high-risk groups (P = 0.02 and P = 0.001, respectively). The multivariate analysis detected factors related to CVD risk for women who have an intermediate or high risk of CVD, such as age, smoking, body mass index (BMI), unhealthy diet, blood pressure (BP) measurements, and family history of CVD (P < 0.05). The present study reports limited knowledge and awareness of CVD was 8.6 that is considered as low knowledge. In conclusion, the present study among the university sample in Madinah reported limited knowledge and awareness of CVD risk. These findings support the need for an educational program to enhance the awareness of risk factors and prevention of CVD.

No abstract

Introduction Few studies focused on the impact of food insecurity severity on the risk of malnutrition among COVID-19 patients in Saudi Arabia. Objectives This study described the prevalence of food insecurity among COVID-19 patients, its severity, and its associated factors. Additionally, the impact of the severity of food insecurity on the risk of malnutrition was determined. It is hypothesized that food insecurity is associated with an increased risk of malnutrition among COVID-19 patients. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted in Al Madinah Al Munawarah in Saudi Arabia. Patients with confirmed COVID-19 and acute severe or nonsevere illness were enrolled. The Food Insecurity Experience Scale was used to determine the severity of food insecurity, and risk of malnutrition was assessed using the Malnutrition Screening Tool. Demographic characteristics, history of medical conditions, food intake, and body mass index (BMI) were assessed. Results A total of 514 patients were enrolled, with 391 (76%) having acute nonsevere COVID-19 symptoms. A total of 14.2% of patients suffered from food insecurity. Of these, 17% had severe symptoms. The severity of food insecurity was influenced by patients’ education (P = 0.02, 95% CI 0.019–0.225), weight loss (P = 0.0001, 95% CI 0.252–0.752), and loss of appetite (P = 0.0001, 95% CI 0.293–0.604). Fifteen percent of patients were at risk of malnutrition. Many obese patients suffered from severe COVID-19 symptoms (P = 0.029, 95% CI 0.02–0.539). The risk of malnutrition was associated with the severity of food insecurity (P = 0.001, 95% CI -0.056- -0.014), BMI (P = 0.049, 95% CI 0.000–0.042), and employment status (P = 0.034, 95% CI 0.002–0.048). Conclusion Food insecurity and the risk of malnutrition among COVID-19 patients should be assessed to prevent adverse health outcomes.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

Introduction. Data examining the health of menopausal women and the prevalence of osteoporosis remain to be limited in Africa, especially in sub-Saharan countries. Thus, in this current study, we aimed to assess the atherogenic index of plasma (AIP) and anthropometric measurements of osteoporotic postmenopausal women and determine their risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Methods. This is a cross-sectional, community-based study. Postmenopausal women (n = 300), aged ≥45 years, were recruited from Khartoum state, Sudan. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry was used to assess bone density. Weight, height, and waist circumference were measured twice. Fasting blood samples (5 ml) were collected to determine total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). AIP was calculated as an indicator of CVD risk. Results. The mean age of the postmenopausal women was 61.6 ± 10.2 years (range 47–90 years). Women (n = 80) had the normal T-score, and an equal number had osteoporosis (n = 110) and osteopenia (n = 110). The prevalence of osteoporosis was 36.7%. Many postmenopausal women with normal T-scores suffered from general (71.2%) and central (94%) obesity. Postmenopausal women had high TC (24.4%), TG (25.6%), LDL-C (13.7%), and low HDL-C (76.0%) levels. Osteoporotic women (36.4%) were found to have a medium to high risk of CVD as determined by AIP. Women with normal T-scores had a higher number of CVD risk factors. A positive correlation was noted between AIP and TC among osteopenic (r = 0.292; P = 0.002 ) and osteoporotic women (r = 0.265; P < 0.001 ). Conclusion. Osteoporosis was prevalent among Sudanese postmenopausal women who also had an increased risk for CVD. Public health education about osteoporosis and CVD risk is thus recommended.