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Aim:To describe the work-related musculoskeletal disorders among on-job dental surgeons.Objectives:To identify the musculoskeletal disorders in terms of perception of pain and stiffness experienced by the dental surgeons due to the rigors of dental work, to determine the prevailing working environment with particular reference to dental work station in relation to musculoskeletal disorders, and to find the association between pain and stiffness experienced by the dental surgeons and the selected socio-demographic variables.Materials and Methods:The study was conducted on 30 graduated dental surgeons having a work experience of 1 year or more, post graduates and faculty members of various specialties at Yenepoya Dental College Hospital, Mangalore. The subjects were selected randomly from the hospital and they were given closed-ended questionnaire to find out perception of pain and stiffness experienced in the past 6 months. The observation of the working environment was done by walk-through observational survey.Results:The study showed that 6.6% dental surgeons always experienced shoulder pain, while 83.3% dental surgeons sometimes experienced back pain and 70% sometimes experienced neck pain. Majority of the dental surgeons (73.3%) experienced stiffness in the back and 23.3% experienced severe pain in their neck. It was observed that the number of patients attended per day by the dental surgeons had a significant association (P = 0.024) with the pain they experienced in their hip/thigh region. The frequency of pain experienced by the dental surgeons in the hip/thigh and knee joints also showed a significant association (P = 0.037) with the height of the dental surgeons.Conclusion:The study revealed that various socio-demographic variables contributed to the musculoskeletal disorders experienced by the dental surgeons. However, the number of patients attended per day by the dental surgeons vis-à-vis pain experienced in the back, wrist, and hip/thigh was significant.

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Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), an important human pathogen, is classified as a human carcinogen. It is known to cause dyspepsia, peptic ulcers, and gastric cancer. Awareness regarding H. pylori infections in Saudi Arabia awaits investigation to reduce or even eliminate the infection that would ease the substantial burden of managing H. pylori among both malignant and non-malignant diseases. Aims: The study aims were to (1) assess the knowledge of H. pylori infection, testing, and management among undergraduate students in Saudi Arabia and (2) compare the H. pylori knowledge among health science and non-health science students. Methods: This study involved a cross-sectional online survey among 334 undergraduate students in health science and non-health science colleges at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia, using a valid and reliable author-developed survey. The survey had two sections: the socio-demographic factors and knowledge items regarding H. pylori. Data were collected during the 2019–2020 academic year. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, Chi-square, and Mann–Whitney U test. The knowledge scores were categorized as poor, fair, and good. Results: Less than 10% of the students in both groups had a good knowledge level about H. pylori. The comparison of the overall mean between both groups was non-significant. Moreover, the level of knowledge of the respondents was significantly associated with their university level (p < 0.001), family monthly income (p < 0.007), having heard about H. pylori infection (p < 000.1), and a previous history of H. pylori infection (p < 000.1). Conclusion: The overall knowledge level of Saudi undergraduate students about H. pylori infection was low. Thus, health awareness interventions through educational programs are recommended for improving their knowledge about H. pylori infection and its prevention.

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Background:Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder that elicits feelings of strangeness and discomfort, which may create stigma and lead to the social exclusion of the mentally ill and of the people relating with them. In the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of research studies on attitudes toward mental disorders.Materials and Methods:An instrument was developed to assess the attitude of primary caregivers on home care of schizophrenics. This article describes the development of a Likert scale, the Caregivers Attitude Scale on Home Care of Schizophrenics CASHS, which is a 31-item self-reported instrument that quantifies three aspects of home care, that is, attitude towards patient, towards treatment, and towards social interaction. The steps involved in its development are the review of literature, development of items, content validation, translation and language validity, pretesting, and reliability.Results:After establishing the content validity, the CASHS was pretested with five subjects. To establish the reliability of the CASHS, 21 primary caregivers were recruited through purposive sampling technique. In order to measure the stability between scores obtained, a test-retest reliability was computed using Karl Pearson correlation coefficient and the r value was 0.78. The internal consistency was measured using Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlation and the r value was 0.789. The item discrimination analysis was also computed and the value was of above 0.35. These statistical measurements indicate that the CASHS was reliable.Conclusions:The CASHS is a valid and reliable tool that can be utilized for assessing the attitude of primary caregivers on home care of schizophrenics.

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