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BackgroundCoronary artery disease (CAD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Due to increased CAD risk factors in Saudi Arabia, research on more feasible and predictive biomarkers is needed. We aimed to evaluate glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) as a predictor of CAD in low-risk profile non-diabetic patients living in the Al Qassim region of Saudi Arabia.MethodsThirty-eight patients with no history of CAD were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. They provided demographic data, and their HbA1c estimation followed the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program parameters. All patients underwent coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) for evaluation of chest pain. The extent of coronary artery stenosis (CAS) was quantified as percentage for each patient based on plaques detected in CCTA.ResultsMean blood pressure of the patients was (91.2 ± 11.9 mmHg), BMI (28.3 ± 5.8 kg/m2), serum cholesterol level (174 ± 33.1 mg/dl), and HbA1c levels (mean 5.7 ± 0.45, median 5.7 and range 4.7–6.4%). Eighteen patients showed no CAS (47.4%), 12 showed minimal stenosis (31.6%), 3 showed mild stenosis (7.9%), 3 showed moderate stenosis (7.9%) and 2 showed severe stenosis (5.3%). A moderate correlation was detected between HbA1c and CAS percentages (r = 0.47, p < 0.05) as well as between HbA1c and the number of affected coronary vessels (r = 0.53, p < 0.001).ConclusionGlycated hemoglobin can be used as a predictive biomarker for CAD in non-diabetic low-risk patients.

:To determine the factors related with depression among adolescent students, 165 male adolescent students aged 15 to 19 years from 2 urban schools and colleges were interviewed with semi-structured questionnaire during January to June 2012.The socio demographic details, smoking and depression histories were recorded. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) was used to measure the presence of depression. Smoking behavior was measured by a number of questions. Almost 49% respondents were depressed and 66% were smokers. Most of the respondents started smoking around the age of 14.3 years (54.1%) by the influence of their friends. Among the smokers 82.7% were depressed while 17.3% were depressed among nonsmokers (χ 2 =19.69, p=<0.001). Parental smoking affected 62.5% respondents for depression against 59.4% normal respondents whose parents were non smokers (χ 2 =7.52, p=.006). Domestic violence (χ 2 =18.4, p=<0.001), familial disharmony (χ 2 =18.44, p=0.001), stressful events in the life (χ 2 =21.38, p=<0.001), failure in love (χ 2 =12.6, p=0.002) also played roles for depression. After adjusting the non significant factors in logistic regression, familial disharmony (p<0.001), smoking (p=0.005) and stress (p=0.04) became significant factors associated with depression. Depression level was higher among adolescent smoker than nonsmoker students.

This is a pioneer study in Bangladesh to postulate female sexuality, revealing pain disorder as most prevalent; the women with dysfunction were dissatisfied with their sexual life. In order to determine the cause of female sexual dysfunction, the topic needs further exploration involving intervention at regular medical investigations.

Aim To assess whether expatriate‐specific factors were associated with nurses’ overall job dissatisfaction after controlling for known factors. Background Current evidence about job dissatisfaction among nurses in Saudi Arabia is not specific to expatriate nurses. Specific aspects such as job insecurity, fear of litigation, and language barriers have not been assessed in the context of job dissatisfaction. Introduction The majority of nurses in the Arab Gulf countries are expatriate. The motive for employment here is purely financial because there is no path to permanent residency. Methods This was a cross‐sectional electronic survey of 977 expatriate nurses in Al‐Qassim, Saudi Arabia. The survey included questions on demography, job dissatisfaction (overall and related to salary, workload, and teamwork), job characteristics, job duration as an expatriate, communication issues with patients and doctors, fear of litigation, and job insecurity. We used a hierarchical logistic regression to evaluate whether unique factors were associated with overall job dissatisfaction either as a group, or individually. Results The mean age of the nurses was 32 years, and 19% reported overall job dissatisfaction. The unique expatriate factors as a group contributed significantly to the model. Job insecurity, patient communication problems, and shorter job duration were significantly associated with higher overall job dissatisfaction. Conclusions Job insecurity, job duration, and patient communication were significant correlates of overall job dissatisfaction among expatriate nurses. Implications for nursing policy A longer job contract and organizational initiatives to help new expatriate nurses acculturate will likely decrease feelings of job insecurity and increase job satisfaction.