Background: Successful audiology service delivery depends on support from the community, and agreement to utilize hearing healthcare programs. Assessment of parents' awareness regarding hearing loss (HL) and audiology services is necessary for the development of suitable hearing programs for children. Previous studies reported that early detection and intervention for hearing problems are typically strongly supported by parents. The current study sought to evaluate parents' knowledge and attitudes regarding childhood HL and hearing services. Methods: A cross-sectional study conducted at five centers in Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. A self-report questionnaire was administered to collect demographic data in addition to 31 questions regarding the knowledge and attitudes of parents toward HL. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 21 was used for data analysis. A pvalue cut-off point of 0.05 at 95% CI was used to determine statistical significance. The analyses examined the association between socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge and attitudes toward HL using chi-square tests. Results: Overall, participants included in this study were 243 participants. Of these, 105 (43.2%) were fathers, and 138 (56.8%) were mothers. Ages ranged from 21 to 60+ years. Assessment of the prevalence of various aspects of knowledge and attitudes among parents toward childhood HL revealed that 103 participants (42.4%) possessed good knowledge, while 140 participants (57.6%) possessed poor knowledge. In contrast, the attitude analysis revealed that 224 participants (92.2%) expressed positive attitudes, while only 19 participants (07.8%) showed a negative attitude regarding audiology services. We found a significant association between age group and knowledge (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Most parents in our sample possessed poor knowledge regarding childhood HL. However, most parents expressed positive attitudes regarding audiology services. The current findings suggest a need to increase awareness among parents regarding childhood HL.

Introduction: The growing number of students with Autism will set challenge to school teachers to become better prepared to take the necessary action to serve and to assist children with autism. Aim: The aim in this study was to assess the knowledge and attitude of school teachers regarding Autism Spectrum Disorder in Badaya city of Al-Qassim region, kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and to find out any differences in school teachers knowledge based on (gender, educational level, experience, contact with students with autism, type of school). Methods: a cross sectional study was conducted in Badaya City on school teachers from December 2017 until March 2018 to assess their knowledge about Autism spectrum disorder. Autism knowledge Questionnaire was completed by 248 school teachers participated in the research study, data was collected from answers of the 30 questions of the questionnaire for all participants, and analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: total level of knowledge in our sample of school teachers was 48.7%, a statistical significant differences between school teachers’ knowledge based on type of school, contact with children with autism favoring public schools p value=0.00, and previous contact with students with autism p value=0.03 which have higher level of knowledge. Educational level, grade of teaching, experience, gender did not significantly affect teachers’ knowledge. Conclusion: School teachers had a weak level of knowledge about Autism Spectrum disorder. Previous contact with students with autism definitely raises level of knowledge.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to understand the level of knowledge and awareness of plastic surgery among primary health care (PHC) providers in Qassim region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study conducted from February 2018 to March 2018 among health care providers in PHC in Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. Overall, 82 health care providers were recruited using simple random sampling. Filling the questionnaire was considered as approval to join the study. The study included general practitioners and family medicine specialists. Other specialties working in PHC were excluded from the study. Results: In total, 82 physicians were enrolled in this study. Physicians considered that out of 28 listed disorders 16 of them have chosen a plastic surgeon as the best surgeon to perform the necessary surgery. The selection of plastic surgeon as the best doctor for a specific disorder was as follows: Burn deformities (93%), liposuction (87.7%), breast reduction/enhancement (86.8%), skin grating (84.4%), surgery for facial wrinkles (79.2%), electrical burns (71.6%), Botox (64.4%), cuts over the face (63.5%), abdominoplasty (62.9%), burns (59.4%), congenital anomalies of ear and nose (51.5%), deformities of leprosy (51.4%), sex change surgery (49.2%), non-healing wound over legs (47.1%), cleft lip and palate (41.7%), and totally, amputee thumb, finger, or hand (36.1%). The selection of other disorders was distributed almost similarly. Conclusion: General practitioners need more orientation for plastic surgery discipline. In this study, the majority of the study physicians do not have enough knowledge about the meaning of plastic surgery. As a PHC physician, knowledge about this topic is very essential because the patient is very likely to ask about the best surgeon for referral and the potential positive and negative effect of the reconstructive procedure.

Background: Fatty liver is a disease caused by the accumulation of fat in the liver. It is one of the major risk factors for developing cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Saudi Arabia is one of the most prevalent countries in diabetes and obesity; the overall prevalence of diabetes is 23.7% and obesity is 35.6%. Aim: To study the correlation between fatty liver finding on abdominal ultrasound (US) and their clinical and biochemical profile including BMI, blood glucose level, lipid profile, liver function tests, and blood pressure in both group lean and obese patients. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 346 fatty liver ultrasound-proven patients were enrolled in the study from January to May 2016 in King Saud Hospital- Qassim, Saudi Arabia. Results: Mean age of the participants was 50.3 years. Female participants were 55% of the cohort. Participants were divided based on their BMI: BMI <25 (lean), BMI of 25–30 (overweight and mild obesity), and BMI >30 (morbid obesity). We found that cholesterol ( P = 0.007) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) ( P = 0.015) were higher in lean compared to others (5 and 3.1), respectively. Gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) was higher in mildly obese patients (113.2) and ALT, which was higher in lean patients (60.4). In addition, 34.5% of the overall patients had Diabetes Mellitus (DM). We found that HbA1c was lower in lean (7.3) compared to morbidly obese patients (7.6). Platelets counts were higher in morbidly obese patients (278) compared to other groups. Conclusion: High cholesterol and LDL strongly correlated with lean fatty liver patients. There was a significant relationship between the female gender and the risk of development of fatty liver. However, liver enzymes were within the normal range, except GGT, which was higher in all the groups, with the highest value in mildly obese patients. Therefore, they are not sensitive for diagnosing fatty liver patients.

BACKGROUND: Anxiety and depression are the most common mental problems that may affect workers&#39; productivity. Diagnosing these disorders and determining their predisposing factors helps improving quality and productivity of workers; particularly nurses, with a positive impact on quality of service provided and as a preventive measure would save the cost of management of such disorders. PARTICIPANTS &amp; METHODS: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2021 and March 2022 and anonymously and voluntarily invited 250 nurses. Data were collected included the socio-demographic, anthropometric and life style data of participants and items of hospital anxiety and depression scale questionnaire. SPSS was used for data analysis that were presented as mean &plusmn; SD and frequencies; number (n) and percentage (%). RESULTS: Consented 215 nurses were enrolled giving a response rate of 86%. The mean &plusmn; SD score of anxiety was 8.4 &plusmn; 3.9 and the mean &plusmn; SD score of depression was 6.6 &plusmn; 3.9 and varied significantly by gender. The prevalence of anxiety and depression was 28.8% and 16.7%, respectively. There was significant association between anxiety and hospital location, body mass index, physical activity and overtime work. The hospital location, South Asian ethnicity, smoking, physical activity and night shift were all showed significant association with depression. CONCLUSION: Our figures are much lower than some international and national studies but still are higher than others. However, they are alarming to the needs of changes to improve the quality of nurses&#39; life so as to ensure better healthcare services that save both sides the emotional and economic burden.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Objectives: Blindness is one of the most widespread final pathways of diabetic retinopathy and its associated diabetic macular edema. The general practitioners are the first to encounter these diabetic patients. Fundoscopy is now considered as an ideal way for the diagnosis of patients with diabetic retinopathy. Therefore, this study was undertaken to know the ability and skills of general practitioners for the diagnosis and management of patients with diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. Methods: This study was conducted in all major cities in Qassim province of Saudi Arabia during January to May 2017. A validated questionnaire was used to assess the general practitioners’ knowledge and practice for the management of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. Questions related to referrals, diagnosis, and treatment options to diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema were asked to the general practitioners. Results: Of 96 general practitioners, 76 returned the questionnaire with a response rate of 79.2%. Only 26.3% general practitioners referred patients with type 1 diabetes to ophthalmologists as per guidelines set by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, whereas 74% of general practitioners showed good knowledge for referring patients with type 2 diabetes to ophthalmology clinics. Lack of knowledge was also noticed for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, as only 36.8% of general practitioners replied positive for dilated fundus examination option, whereas 78.9% of general practitioners chose laser photocoagulation as a treatment option. Similar response from them was observed for patients with diabetic macular edema. Furthermore, data also showed years in practice of general practitioners was well correlated with their knowledge for the management of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. Conclusion: The general practitioners included in this study showed lack of knowledge in handling patients with diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. Therefore, refresher courses are needed that highlight the acquisition of their skills in fundoscopy.