Background: COVID-19 patients with DM have increased mortality and severity of the disease. Although telemedicine helps to minimize the impact of COVID-19 on the DM standard of care, it is increasingly evident that COVID-19 has a significant impact on DM standards of care, especially in areas where telemedicine is not available. Objective: The study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on patients with diabetes standard of care in the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study using an online pretested questionnaire targeted adult diabetic patients living in the Jazan region between December 2021 to March 2022. The participants were selected through a random sampling method. They completed self-administered questionnaires that included demographic variables. Results: A total of 258 study subjects participated in this study. In comparison to DM standards of care before and during COVID-19, there was no clinically significant difference in medication compliance, blood glucose checking, or experiencing blood glucose extrusion. However, with the spread of the corona pandemic and the closure of clinics, the percentage of those who have difficulty controlling blood sugar levels has increased to 22%, despite the availability of telemedicine. Conclusion: DM standards of care have not been affected and were not statistically significant, which could be explained by the rapid adoption of telemedicine during the lockdown. However, as corona spread participants had difficulty controlling blood sugar levels. This indicates that governmental multidisciplinary work limits the COVID-19 impact; however, further work is still needed to ensure that DM care is not compromised.
Introduction Diabetes is a chronic metabolic condition characterized by a lack of insulin-producing cells, impaired insulin activity, or a combination of the two. Today, Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of diabetes, with 23.7% of the population suffering from the disease. Many people with diabetes do not realize they have the disease until one of its life-threatening complications occurs. Objectives This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of knowledge and awareness about diabetes mellitus (DM) among the non-diabetic population and its association with sociodemographic variables in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on non-diabetic community members from January 2022 to April 2022 in the Jazan region. Participants were selected through a random sampling method and completed self-administered questionnaires that included demographic variables. Result A total of 475 subjects participated in this study. Moreover, 86.7% (412) of the study participants defined diabetes as the presence of high blood sugar levels in the body, but nearly half (44.6%) thought that DM was a curable disease. Regarding the complications of DM, 81.3% mentioned that DM could lead to amputations, followed by causing eye problems or even blindness (79.8%). Conclusion The population in the Jazan region has enough general knowledge of diabetes regarding symptoms, complications, and so on; however, most of the population has the misconception that diabetes can be cured. Therefore, our study suggests that more efforts should be made to increase knowledge of diabetes, especially among the less educated uneducated elderly population.
The most frequent otolaryngological complaint is nasal obstruction. We aimed to determine if there is a relationship between nasal blockage and academic performance among medical college students in Saudi Arabia. MethodsThis cross-sectional survey carried out from August to December 2022, included 860 medical students determining the risk of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) on the participants using the Berlin Sleep Questionnaire Risk Probability, then comparing it to their socio-demographic characteristics, while the Chisquare test was used for the comparison of categorical variables. ResultThe average age of the participants in our study was 21.52 years; 60% were females and 40% were males. The risk of obstructive sleep apnea was found to be two times higher in females than in males (95% CI: 1.195-3.345; p-value 0.008). The hypertensive participants had a 27-fold increased risk of OSA compared to nonhypertensives. Grade Point Average (GPA) and snoring had a statistically significant relationship, however, a fifth of the participants reported snoring (79.8% reported not snoring). We also found that 14.8% of the participants with snoring had a GPA between 2-4.49 compared to 44.6% of participants without snoring. ConclusionFemale students had a two-fold higher chance of developing OSA than males. While a GPA of 4.5 and above was more often associated with participants without snoring, the number of individuals with a GPA of 2-4.49 was greater among participants with snoring. To aid in the prevention of illness complications and the management of risk factors, additional efforts should be made to increase disease knowledge among students, primary healthcare practitioners, and specialty doctors.
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