BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVESAlternative medicine (AM) encompasses all forms of therapies that fall outside the mainstream of medical practice. Its popularity is on the increase. Because previous surveys were limited and not generalizable, we estimated the prevalence, pattern and factors associated with use of AM in the community.SUBJECTS AND METHODSA multistage cluster cross-sectional household survey was conducted among Saudi residents of the Riyadh region. Data were collected in 2003 by trained interviewers from primary health care centers using a specially designed questionnaire.RESULTSOf 1408 individuals participating in the study, 39% were men. The mean (±SD) age for the study population was 35.5 (±13.9) years. Sixty-eight percent of the respondents had used AM during the last 12 months. The Holy Quran as a therapy was the most frequently used AM (50.3%), followed by honey (40.1%), black seed (39.2%) and myrrh (35.4%). The health belief model was found to be the most important determinant of AM use. Factors independently associated with AM use included perceived failure of medical treatment, the perceived success of AM, a preference for natural materials, and long appointment intervals to see physicians.CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONSThere is a high prevalence of AM use in the Riyadh region and the most important determinant of AM use was the perceived failure of medical treatment. The study results call for intensive health education campaigns in the media addressing wrong beliefs regarding AM and modern medicine. The popularity of AM in this community should alert decision makers to look at the difficult accessibility to the health system.

BACKGROUNDThe prevalence of hypertension in Saudi Arabia has been assessed only in preliminary reports. The aim of this study was to determine the degree of control of blood pressure and the prevalence of common hypertension co-morbidities among hypertensive patients attending primary healthcare (PHC) centers in Riyadh.METHODSA cross-sectional study was conducted by reviewing medical records of hypertensive patients during May and June 2001. Two hundred fifty-five medical records were selected by a stratified randomization process according to the distribution of the 73 PHC centers in the city and the total number of hypertensive patients registered in the mini-clinic of each PHC center. Trained mini-clinic nurses collected data using a data collection form developed for this purpose.RESULTSOf 255 patients, 121 (47.5%) were males and 134 (52.5%) were females; the mean age was 57.2±11.1 years and 8.3% were smokers. The majority, 204 (85.7%), had greater than normal body weight. Only 101 (40.4%) had controlled systolic BP and 129 (51.6%) had controlled diastolic BP. The most common co-morbidity was diabetes mellitus, found in 98 (38.4%), followed by dyslipidemia in 50 (19.6%), bronchial asthma in 28 (11.0%) and renal diseases in 12 (4.7%). Except for osteoporosis, which was reported by females only (P=0.003), the occurrence of hypertensive co-morbidities did not vary from other demographic characteristics.CONCLUSIONThis study demonstrated poor blood pressure control in the mini-clinics in PHC centers. To improve the quality of care for hypertensive patients, we recommend an improvement in PHC physician knowledge of and attitudes toward the importance of achieving targeted blood pressure levels.

Background:Breaking bad news is one of the most stressful and difficult things a physician has to do. Good communication skills are required in order to ensure that bad news is delivered in a humane but effective way.Objectives:This study was designed to explore the preferences and attitude of the Saudi population toward receiving bad news. Second, it was to identify the associations between preferences, attitudes, and sociodemographic characteristics.Materials and Methods:This was a cross-sectional study conducted during the month of April 2009 in Riyadh. Data were collected from 1013 adult Saudis. Stratified random sampling technique was used through a self-administered questionnaire.Results:In this study, 474 (46.8%) were males and 539 (53.2%) were females. Almost two-third of the participants preferred to be the first to receive the bad news. A majority of the participants 695 (68.6%) preferred to be told the bad news at a private place, whereas, 441 (43.5%) preferred to be told by the head of the medical team. Moreover, almost half of the participants would like the one who breaks the bad news to remain with them to give them some more information about the disease. Significant associations were observed between participants' perception and attitude with age, marital status, gender, and education (P < 0.001), respectively.Conclusion:Factors such as marital status, age, and gender, and education play significant roles in how bad news is received. Understanding what is important in the process of breaking bad news may help in determining how best to perform this challenging task.

Health care professionals should consider the quality of any CPG for T2DM before deciding to use it in their daily clinical practice. Three CPGs have been identified, using the AGREE criteria, as high-quality and trustworthy. Ideally, the resources provided by the AGREE trust including the AGREE II Instrument should be used by a clinician to scan through the large number of published T2DM CPGs to identify the CPGs with high methodological quality and applicability.

BACKGROUND:Alternative medicine is defined as medical therapies that are not regarded as orthodox by the medical profession. The teaching of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in medical schools is becoming prevalent worldwide. Only a few studies have been done to assess medical students' attitude toward CAM and the need for CAM courses.MATERIALS AND METHODS:An observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on medical students in two universities, King Saud (KSU) and Majmaah (MU) medical colleges, between February and April 2015. A survey was developed and validated by a pilot study. Data were gathered from both colleges by means of hard and soft copy surveys. Medical students of both genders from the 1st year to the 5th year from both universities were targeted in this study. Fifth-year students from Majmaah and students from the preparatory year were excluded from the study. KSU students comprised 1433, while MU students comprised only 180. The sample size was 384. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.RESULTS:The study included 399 medical students. Bloodletting is the most known modality (80.7%), while homeopathy is the least known with a percentage of 7.47%. The overall assessment of the attitude toward CAM was neutral, with a mean of 3.1. Students who had taken a CAM course previously were more satisfied with their knowledge than those who had not, showing a statistical significance of P = 0.0001.CONCLUSION:This study showed a lack of knowledge of CAM among medical students. There was an association between taking a CAM course and students' satisfaction with their knowledge. Most of the students agreed with the inclusion of CAM courses in the medical curriculum.