Objectives:To assess the epidemiological characteristics of prematurity and survival rate in preterm infants diagnosed at a university hospital in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia.Methods:A retrospective study was carried out of 476 preterm infants who were admitted with the diagnosis of prematurity to King Fahd Hospital of the University, Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, between June 2008 and 2013. Demographics, birth weight, and neonatal survival rate were analyzed.Results:Four hundred and seventy-six preterm infants were admitted with a total prevalence of 7.5%. Descriptive analysis revealed 55% were males. Extremely preterm infants (<28 weeks’ gestation) comprised 9% and very preterm infants (28 to <32 weeks’ gestation) comprised 20%. Extremely low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants (<1000 g) comprised 11%. One hundred and fifty-seven (32%) infants were small for gestational age. Out of the total number of ELBW infants, 58% of them were discharged. The overall mortality was 7.6%. The mortality rate of male infants was 53%. The survival to discharge according to gestational age ranged from 30-97.6%.Conclusion:The estimated prevalence of preterm births in a university hospital in eastern province of Saudi Arabia, is consistent with various studies from different parts of the world.

Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and various forms of neglect of children have been encountered more frequently by healthcare providers, particularly physicians. However, mismanagement of child abuse and neglect (CAN) due to a lack of awareness of it can lead to substantial and serious consequences. This study primarily aimed to evaluate the awareness of CAN among medical students and compare it between preclinical and clinical males and females in Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study using a self-reported-based questionnaire was carried out to study child abuse and neglect awareness and compare preclinical and clinical male versus female medical students during the first semester in 2021/2022. The majority of the participants were aware of CAN (90.6%), agreed that CAN exists locally (96.6%), believed that CAN is important in the medical field (96.3%), and expressed the important role of physicians in participating in the management of CAN (84.3%). Some students did not know about the legislation of CAN in Saudi Arabia (15%). The results show a lack of exposure to real CAN cases (80.3%) and the need for more formal education (70.3%). In general, the students were comparable, but there were significant differences showing more awareness in female students compared to males and, similarly, more awareness in clinical-year students. Both clinical and preclinical medical students were aware of CAN, with some concerns regarding their competency in dealing with CAN. CAN should be given more weight in the medical school curriculum.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated glycemic control among T1DM pediatric patients attending the endocrinology pediatrics clinics at King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFHU) prior to and during COVID-19 restraining regulations. In addition, we assessed the trends and variations in the incidence of T1DM during 2017-2021, including the COVID-19 years by identifying newly diagnosed patients presenting to pediatrics emergency department (ED) in KFHU. METHODS: To estimate the effect of COVID-19 on the incidence of T1DM, we identified newly diagnosed cases of T1DM among pediatric patients attending the ED during the years 2017- 2021. The participants' data were collected through electronic medical records. Information collected included patient age, sex, and HbA1c readings. Three HbA1c readings of interest that were defined and collected are pre-COVID reading, in-COVID reading, and post-COVID reading. RESULTS: The difference of female participants' readings was statistically non-significant (Z= -0.416, p = 0.678), with a pre- and post-COVID median of 10.70 (Q1= 9.00, Q3= 12.15), and 10.50 (Q1= 8.80, Q3= 12.35), respectively. In contrast, the difference was statistically significant among male participants (Z= -2.334, p = 0.02), with a pre- and post-COVID median of 10.20 (Q1= 8.70, Q3= 11.80), and 10.65 (Q1= 9.00, Q3= 12.70), respectively. There was a statistically significant increase in HbA1c of persons > 11 years old (Z= -2.471, p= 0.013), with a pre- and post-COVID median of 10.40 (Q1= 9.00, Q3= 12.10), and 10.90 (Q1= 9.00, Q3= 12.60), respectively. Conversely, persons ≤ 11 years old showed no statistically significant change in HbA1c (Z= -.457, p= 0.648), with a pre- and post-COVID median of 10.45 (Q1= 8.70, Q3= 11.85), and 10.20 (Q1= 8.40, Q3= 12.075), respectively. Disregarding any influence of time, the effect of sex showed no statistically significant difference in HbA1c between males and females [F (1,125) = 0.008, p = 0.930]. Meanwhile, the age effect on HbA1c, regardless of time influence, was statistically significant [F (1,125) = 4.993, p = 0.027]. There was no statistically significant interaction between time and sex on HbA1c levels [F (1.74, 217) = 0.096, p = 0.883] and between age and time [F (3.92,289.57) = 1.693, p = 0.190]. CONCLUSIONS: The number of visits to healthcare facilities dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rate of newly diagnosed T1DM increased. There was a variable effect on HbA1c levels of those patients, which suggests that each demographic group in the population might have been affected differently by the pandemic. Future research should determine factors associated with better glycemic control and measures to sustain these changes the pandemic might have created.