ObjectiveTo evaluate perceptions of being mistreated during internship among first year Oman Medical Specialty Board residents.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingTraining centres for Oman Medical Specialty Board.ParticipantsFirst year medical residents following completion of internship during the study period 2009–2010.MethodA cross-sectional survey of first year medical residents.ResultsOf 58 residents (response rate 84%), 96.6% perceived that mistreatment exists. Among different types of mistreatment reported, verbal and academic abuses were the most common (87.9%), followed by sexual harassment (24.1%), then physical abuse (22.4%). Forty-four (75.9%) residents had advised at least one of their relatives not to join medical school.ConclusionsMistreatment of medical interns is an ethical issue challenging the quality of clinical training. Further research is needed to understand factors influencing mistreatment and to draw guidelines to limit such problems.

BACKGROUNDThe prevalence of metabolic syndrome varies widely by ethnicity and by the criteria used in its definition.OBJECTIVETo identify the optimal cutoff values for waist circumference (WC), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and body mass index (BMI) for identifying metabolic syndrome among the Saudi population.DESIGNNationwide household cross-sectional population-based survey.SETTINGThirteen health sectors in Saudi Arabia.SUBJECTS AND METHODSWe used data for subjects in the Saudi Abnormal Glucose Metabolism and Diabetes Impact Study (SAUDI-DM), which was conducted from 2007 to 2009. Using International Diabetes Federation (IDF) criteria, metabolic syndrome and its different components were assessed using anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, fasting plasma glucose, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were generated to assess sensitivity and specificity for different cutoff values of WC, WHR, and BMI. The Youden index was used to calculate the optimal cutoff value for each anthropometric measurement.MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S)Optimal cutoff value for WC, WHR, and BMI for identifying the risk of metabolic syndrome.RESULTSThe prevalence of two or more risk factors for metabolic syndrome was observed in 43.42% of the total cohort of 12 126 study participants ≥18 years of age. The presence of two or more risk factors were significantly higher among men (46.81%) than women (40.53%) (P<.001). The optimal cutoff values for WC, WHR, and BMI were 92 cm, 0.89, and 25 kg/m2 for men and 87 cm, 0.81 and 28 kg/m2 for women for identifying the risk of metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of elevated triglycerides, blood pressure, and fasting plasma glucose significantly increased with age for both genders.CONCLUSIONSThe proposed WC cutoff values were better than WHR and BMI in predicting metabolic syndrome and could be used for screening people at high risk for metabolic syndrome in the Saudi population.LIMITATIONSNo direct measure of body fatness and fat distribution, cross-sectional design.

Objective: To assess the quality of diabetic care provided in primary health care settings in Oman.Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of randomly selected 500 patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) attending 6 primary care diabetic clinics in the north Al-Batinah region of Oman from January to December 2010. Nine standards on the quality of diabetes care were audited.Results: The mean age of the sample was 51±13 years, ranging from 15 to 87 years; the majority (61%) were females. The mean duration of DM was 4±3 years, ranging from 1 to 18 years. Seventy-seven percent of the patients attended diabetic clinics at least 4 times per year. Of the 9 assessed diabetic standards, HbA1c was documented in 33% of the patients, body mass index in 12%, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) in 40%, urinary albumin:creatinine ratio in 28%, creatinine in 63% and blood pressure (BP) in 96%. Optimal control among the documented indicators was noted in 32, 21, 25, 85, 95 and 19%, respectively. Twenty percent of the patients had their ECGs done while only 39% of the patients had foot examination. No patient had attained control in all of HbA1c., BP and LDL-C.Conclusion: There is a gap between the recommended DM care guidelines and current practice with consequent poor quality of care in these patients.

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