Objective To assess the prevalence of anxiety and factors associated with it during the peak of the outbreak in Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional research screened the general public using the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale-7 to detect anxiety levels. The questionnaire was distributed online during May 2020, while lockdowns were enforced. A total of 3017 respondents from all five main regions of Saudi Arabia completed the survey. The prevalence of anxiety was measured. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses were executed to determine associated factors with anxiety during peak lockdown. Results About 19.6% of the respondents possessed a moderate to severe level of anxiety during the pandemic. Western, Northern, and Eastern regions of Saudi Arabia were found to be the most anxious. Female participants had 5.3% higher levels of anxiety compared to male counterparts. The youngest age group (18 to 19 years), most of them were students, reported the highest frequency of anxiety (28.7%). Divorced and single participants had a higher level of anxiety compared to married ones. After adjusted with other variables, living with a family member with risk of the COVID-19 was the best predictor assessing anxiety amid peak lockdown (OR: 1.8, 95% CI: 1.4–2.2). Conclusion Notable anxiety prevailed during the initial phase of the COVID-19 outbreak in Saudi Arabia. The presence of vulnerable subjects in the family augments this psychological disorder considerably. Our findings promulgate a need to inculcate nation-wide strategies to enforce public health emergency preparedness plans to mitigate the adverse psychological effects of outbreaks.

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Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of cigarette smoking and health-related quality of life among Saudi secondary vocational students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A convenience sample of 328 answered a web-based self-administered questionnaire based on the Youth Risky Behavior Monitoring System (YRBSS) plus the Short Form 12 (SF-12) were included in the study. The target population included all Saudi students enrolled at the Secondary Industrial Institute in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, during December 2020 and February 2021. Results: Out of the total of 328 male participants, representing a response rate of 38.59%, the highest percentage of respondents were in the first year (45.4%), the mean age of the participants was 17.73 years with a standard deviation (SD) of 1.85 years. The prevalence of current smokers, past smokers, and never smokers accounted for 30.2%, 21.3%, and 48.5%, respectively. First-year students reported relatively high levels of smoking prevalence and low physical scores of healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL). The overall mean of HRQoL of current smokers, past smokers, and never smokers accounted for 58.60, 58.38, and 63.66, respectively. In addition, current smokers reported a relatively low physical score of HRQoL 55.73. Conclusion: This is the first report to explore the impact of smoking on HRQoL of Secondary Industrial Institute students in Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results indicate that smoking has a negative impact on the quality of life of vocational students. Therefore, a health strategies plan may be developed to improve the quality of life for vocational students in Saudi Arabia.

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BackgroundOccupational Health and Safety (OHS) has become a growing public health concern worldwide. A considerable body of literature has been generated around the theme of safety climate perceptions and occupational hazards, as many researchers have examined perceptions of the occupational safety climate in relation to organizational hierarchy. But there is an urgent need to address safety problems associated with gender differences, especially in Saudi Arabia, where women have only recently begun to work in the industrial field. Therefore, this study aims to assess workers' perceptions of the safety climate and OHS hazards and identify gender differences among workers.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried out, using the Nordic Occupational Safety Climate Questionnaire (NOSACQ-50) to assess seven dimensions of safety climate perception and a standardized structured questionnaire adapted from the National Institute of Occupational Health to assess occupational hazards.ResultsThe results indicated that respondents perceived only one dimension of their relevant occupational safety climates positively. “Peer safety communication, learning, and trust in co-workers”. Workers experienced a range of different occupational hazards in factories, with noise being the most common. There were significant differences (<0.05) between females and males in the areas of safety priority and risk non-acceptance. Women were more likely to experience ergonomic problems than their male counterparts.ConclusionThe present study concludes that industries need to comply with national and international OHS standards and rules, especially related to gender perspectives and hazards, as well as provide proper occupational health services in their factories.