Knowledge towards COVID-19 among healthcare students in the central region of Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional observational study

2020 ◽  
pp. postgradmedj-2020-138274
Author(s):  
Syed Fareed Mohsin ◽  
Muhammad Atif Agwan ◽  
Ziyad Ahmad Alsuwaydani

Study PurposeCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious illness of high public concern. Healthcare students are directly or indirectly exposed to this disease. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of healthcare students in the central region of Saudi Arabia.Study DesignA cross-sectional survey was planned to collect information from healthcare students living in the central region of Saudi Arabia. A questionnaire was formulated to evaluate the healthcare student’s knowledge towards COVID-19 pandemic. The collected data were analysed by using frequencies of correct knowledge answers.ResultsA total of 612 students were analysed for the study. The overall knowledge score of healthcare students was 65.7%. The regression analysis showed a significant association between academic year and knowledge score p<0.001.ConclusionsOur analysis demonstrates satisfactory student’s knowledge but lacks awareness about background and mode of transmission of this disease; therefore, there is a strong need for further education and training programmes.

2021 ◽  
pp. 105477382110606
Author(s):  
Izzeddin A. Bdair

Cardiovascular diseases are the main cause of mortality and disability worldwide. This study aimed to assess knowledge of cardiovascular disease and risk factors among the adult population in the south region of Saudi Arabia. A web-based cross-sectional survey of 1,049 participants was completed during August 2021. Data were collected by using 25-item heart disease fact questionnaire. The study population included 526 men (50.1%) and 523 women (49.9%) with a mean age of 36 ± 12 years. The average total knowledge score was 65.7 ± 20.80. The items with the highest knowledge were smoking, overweight, aging, high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and family history. Findings revealed that knowledge regarding cardiovascular diseases is inadequate with a high prevalence of risk factors among the Saudi Arabian population. Healthcare professionals and organizations have a crucial role in raising public awareness regarding health promotion, regular screening, and lifestyles modifications. Interventional studies are needed to investigate the actual magnitude of CVDs and counteract them.


Author(s):  
Sanaa Al-Haj Ali ◽  
Sondos Alshabaan

Objectives: to assess the knowledge level of parents from the central region of Saudi Arabia about oral health and care of preschool children and its relation with sociodemographic variables, parents‟ self-perception toward their dental health, importance of teeth and frequency of dental visits. Methods: a random sample of 754 parents participated in this cross-sectional study and completed an internationally accepted questionnaire. Chi square test and logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the data (p&lt;0.05). Results: mean knowledge score of the parents was 4.8 (out of 11). Less than 20% of the parents were knowledgeable about the best position for tooth brushing, the concentration of fluoride in a child‟s toothpaste, timing of first dental check-up, and best time to give a sugary snack. Mothers, parents with high educational level and family income, parents with positive attitude towards teeth and excellent self-perception of their dental health were significantly more likely to score higher (p&lt;0.05). Conclusions: knowledge of parents about oral health and care of preschool children in the central region of Saudi Arabia was deficient. Gender, education level of parents, family income, attitude about teeth and self-perception of parents‟ own dental health were factors which influenced their knowledge. To improve parents‟ knowledge, role of health professionals should be improved and TV commercials directed toward the areas which had gaps in knowledge.


Author(s):  
Monira Aldhahi ◽  
Rahaf Almutairi ◽  
Wejdan Alluhaidan ◽  
Anwar Alshammari ◽  
Raghad Almarzuqi ◽  
...  

Background: In the COVID-19 era, efforts are being made to increase awareness among students and enhance best practices to mitigate the outbreak. To that end, the overarching aims of this study were to understand students’ attitude toward and knowledge of COVID-19 and examine the predictors of their attitude toward hand hygiene.Design and Methods: This cross-sectional survey study, conducted in Saudi Arabia, enrolled interns from diverse healthcare-related fields. The questionnaire was divided into three sections: sociodemographic data, knowledge of COVID-19, and attitude toward hand hygiene. The data was expressed as median and interquartile range (IQR).Results: In all, 371 responses were analyzed. The median knowledge score was 20, which was considered good. There were no statistically significant differences across age, hospital setting, or gender. Of the 254 respondents who had attended an educational session, 167 (65%) had a good knowledge score and 83 (33%) had a moderate score, compared with only four (2%) who had a poor score. The cumulative median score of the respondents’ attitudes was 6 (IQR [2]), which reflects a suboptimal attitude—only 38 (22%) reported a good attitude. The predicted effect of knowledge on attitude (good/suboptimal) was statistically significant (p = 0.02) using univariate logistic regression.Conclusions: The results suggest a strong need to encourage the current training program that targets hand hygiene practices among students in healthcare-related fields, especially prior to the internship year.


Author(s):  
Hatem Al-Saadi ◽  
Fatma Al-Busaidi ◽  
Marwa Al-Kalbani ◽  
Said Al-Abri ◽  
Haya Malallah ◽  
...  

Background: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a cluster of acute respiratory illness that was first identified in Wuhan Province in China. The virus causing this syndrome is known as SARS-CoV-2. The COVID 19 pandemic affects every aspect of our life, including education, work, travel, business, and social life. Aim: To evaluate the final year medical students' perceptions of their preparedness for internship and assess their awareness of COVID-19 and patients’ management in the Sultanate of Oman. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of cohort of final year medical students at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) and National University of Science and Technology (NU) was distributed to 227 students in both medical schools from 21st to 28th of April 2020. A total of 99 students fully completed the survey with a response rate of 43.6%. The survey had five sections exploring perceptions on preparedness for internship and awareness and knowledge on COVID-19, training, and implications. Results: Majority of participants (82.8%) were 24-26 years old. Omani students accounted for 88.9% of the participants. 81.4 of SQU participants were competent in carrying ward’s practical procedures comparing to 39.3% of NU participants (p<0.05). There was a higher level of awareness of the current ministry of health policies on the management of patients with COVID-19 with NU participants than SQU (p < 0.005). Training on preparedness for COVID-19 was higher in females than males (p= 0.02). Conclusion: COVID-19 has affected the teaching process and limited student- patient interactions. With ongoing rise in confirmed cases every day, the uncertainty of the duration of the suspension of on-campus teaching in higher education institutions in Oman is still ongoing. The overall perceptions of preparedness for internship among medical students in Oman are good. However, further education in emergency management and training on practical procedures are still required.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Latifa Alhowaish ◽  
Aziza Aljohar ◽  
Mostafa Arafa ◽  
Lujane Almarshed ◽  
Reem Binrabbaa ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The single most chronic disease impacting children on an international scale is dental caries; there are alerts to deaths of children as a result of the complications caused by dental caries, despite the fact that this disease is completely preventable. This study aims to evaluate physicians’ dental knowledge, preventive measures they would provide and their referral patterns to paediatric dentists.Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Certified paediatricians and general practitioners (GPs) from different sectors were invited to participate. The survey comprised 24 questions, distributed into 5 sections; demographic data, dental knowledge, participation in oral preventive measures, case scenarios and one question about participants’ opinion in implementing oral health rotations in the paediatric residency program. Results: 406 physicians participated in the study. Only 4.4 % of the participants answered all the knowledge questions correctly, the mean correct knowledge score was 2.95 ± 0.9937 out of 5. No significant difference was detected in the total knowledge score according to gender (P= 0.315), specialty and years of experience (P= 0.463 and 0.985 respectively). Common causes for referral were dental pain or swelling (67%) followed by a child with dental caries (43.6%). Less than 60% of the respondents would refer children to any dentist in the same hospital, while only 28 % only advise parents to consult a dentist. Most physicians suggested the addition of an oral health rotation in the medical residency program.Conclusions: The current level of oral health knowledge is not satisfactory to provide effective paediatric patients referrals to dentists, although their attitude towards providing oral preventive measures is good. Oral health knowledge and engagement should be emphasized in medical schools. Early and correct referral can be effective in preventing oral disease. The integration of oral health in undergraduate and specialty training curricula is vital to achieve disease prevention goals.


Author(s):  
Ranya Al-Harazi ◽  
Nawal Alharbi ◽  
Ola Al-Zuraiq ◽  
Reem Alkhaldi ◽  
Ilham Almousa ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fahad Alanezi

UNSTRUCTURED E-health system is emerging and providing health services and solutions through different electronic gadgets. Saudi Arabia has launched a program called Saudi Arabia vision 2030, in which providing state-of-the-art health facilities to their citizen is of topmost priority. After all the efforts, the residents of Saudi Arabia are still reluctant for the adaptation of e-health system. The current study was conducted to evaluate the obstacle in adoption of the e-health system through the mobile phones. The current study was cross-sectional survey and was conducted by developing a self-administered structured questionnaire asking the utilization of mobile phone in state of health emergency prior to ask any medical history. Majority of the participants was married and doing jobs in different firms and have their personal mobile phones (p = 0.100, > 0.05) which indicates easily access to the e-health apps. The majority of the participants suffers from either obesity or high blood pressure (p = 0.018, < 0.05) regardless of either history of mental disorder or other family history of mental diseases. The pattern of diseases with mental disorders correlate well with adoption of e-health in government policies. The obstacles in adopting e-health includes fear of the loss of personal data and information (p = 0.0401, < 0.05). Moreover, they did not trust on online medications as the doctor cannot prescribe medicines without seeing physical health of the patient. The current study concluded that by making improvement in policies and proper commercializing the e-health apps together with awareness programs can boast the adoption of e-health in Saudi Arabia.


Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 835
Author(s):  
Mohammed Noushad ◽  
Mohammad Zakaria Nassani ◽  
Anas B. Alsalhani ◽  
Pradeep Koppolu ◽  
Fayez Hussain Niazi ◽  
...  

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused largescale morbidity and mortality and a tremendous burden on the healthcare system. Healthcare workers (HCWs) require adequate protection to avoid onward transmission and minimize burden on the healthcare system. Moreover, HCWs can also influence the general public into accepting the COVID-19 vaccine. Therefore, determining COVID-19 vaccine intention among HCWs is of paramount importance to plan tailor-made public health strategies to maximize vaccine coverage. A structured questionnaire was administered in February and March 2021 among HCWs in Saudi Arabia using convenience sampling, proceeding the launch of the vaccination campaign. HCWs from all administrative regions of Saudi Arabia were included in the study. In total, 674 out of 1124 HCWs responded and completed the survey (response rate 59.9%). About 65 percent of the HCWs intended to get vaccinated. The intention to vaccinate was significantly higher among HCWs 50 years of age or older, Saudi nationals and those who followed the updates about COVID-19 vaccines (p < 0.05). The high percentage (26 percent) of those who were undecided in getting vaccinated is a positive sign. As the vaccination campaign gathers pace, the attitude is expected to change over time. Emphasis should be on planning healthcare strategies to convince the undecided HCWs into accepting the vaccine in order to achieve the coverage required to achieve herd immunity.


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