The Impact of Covid-19 on Ophthalmological Emergency Department Visits at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the impact of COVID-19 on ophthalmological emergency department visits at King Khaled eye specialist hospital in Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia. Method: A Retrospective Record Review was conducted at KKESH in Riyadh city during a pandemic period from 2 March to 30 June of 2019 and same period in 2020. Data include all patients who visited the ophthalmology emergency department with all age groups.

Heavy metal pollution and associated health risk assessment of urban dust in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Depending on their particle size and concentration, heavy metals in urban dust pose a health hazard to humans. This study investigated the total concentration, health risk, integrated pollution load index (IPI), and enrichment factor (EF) of various heavy metals in urban dust at different locations in Riyadh City. Surface dust samples were collected from 50 different residential yards in the north, south, west, east, and central corners of the city and analyzed for cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), manganese (Mn), nickel (Ni), lead (Pb), and zinc (Zn). With respect to concentrations heavy metals were in the following order Zn > Cu > Mn > Cr > Ni > Pb > Cd. The EF trends exposed repeated anthropogenic activities were responsible for Mn, Cr, and Ni, while Pb, Zn, and Cu appeared to come from Earth’s crust. Since the heavy metal concentrations were lower than the threshold values, children and adults are exposed to lower health risk in investigated area. Also, there are no pollution of heavy metals in the dust with respect to IPI which is less than the critical limit (<1) with the exception of a sampling location in north side of the city with higher IPI showed unhealthy respiration conditions in particular areas. It was concluded that rapid industrialization and urbanization and their concentrations in dust may cause health problems in near future in north side as well as other sides of Riyadh City.

COVID-19 Pandemic Driven Knowledge, Attitude, Clinical Practice, Distress Reactions, and Post-Traumatic Growth of Dental Care Providers in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: The present study aimed to assess knowledge, attitude, clinical practices, distress reactions, and post-traumatic growth of dentists during the COVID-19 pandemic in Riyadh City. Methodology: An online questionnaire was developed to assess various dental professionals from both governmental and private sectors during the early COVID-19 outbreak in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was framed to assess the demographic variables, knowledge, attitude, and clinical practices towards handling the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, the general anxiety disorder-7 (GAD-7), worry questionnaire items, short form of post-traumatic growth inventory (PTGI-SF), and life satisfaction questionnaire items were developed to assess the anxiety, worries, post-traumatic growth, and life satisfaction of dental care providers following the traumatic events. Data were analysed using SPSS 22.0 and R environment ver.3.2.2. Continuous measurement results were presented as mean ± SD, and categorical measurements results were presented in number (%). Results: Our study's significant findings revealed that a majority of the dentists were in the age group of 21-30 and practiced general dentistry. The study participants in age groups 51–60 and 41–50 years old showed more liability in perceiving COVID-19 as an extremely dangerous disease than 31–40 and 21–30 age groups. The majority of respondents (63.4%) had an anxiety scale score of greater than 40, followed by 22.8% with scores 20-40 and 13.9% with scores less than 20, respectively. The mean scores for the GAD-7 and the worry items were 8.24 ± 3.21 and 13.92 ± 4.77, respectively. The data showed that most survey participants had adopted moderate post-traumatic changes during the pandemic, as evident by their mean score of 34.17 ± 3.40. The life satisfaction of the participants was neutral, as demonstrated by their mean score of 20.16 ± 4.03. Conclusion: This study’s findings delineated that the COVID-19 pandemic situation has influenced dentists' mental health, with a moderate level of anxiety, and worries among other psychological symptoms. Furthermore, there was adequate knowledge regarding the COVID-19 among dentists; however, the pandemic affected the financial conditions of the respondents. There was a moderate level of post-traumatic growth and neutral life satisfaction of the dental providers.

Working Woman Orientations for Fixing the Ideal Number of Family Members – A field study applied on sample of women working in Riyadh city –: العوامل المؤثرة على اتجاهات المرأة العاملة نحو تحديد الحجم الأمثل للأسرة – دراسة ميدانية مطبقة على عينة من النساء العاملات في مدينة الرياض –

This study is considered one of the descriptive studies that seeks to identify the attitudes of working women towards determining the optimal size of the family. It also uses the social survey method in the sampling method, through the use of a random sample for a group of female employees in a number of schools affiliated with the Supervision Office in the south of Riyadh. The sample size was 152 female employees from all schools. The researcher used a tool (questionnaire) to collect data as a tool consistent with the nature of the method used. From the results of the study, it was found that the average optimal number for both males and females is (3) children. It was also found that there is some agreement among the study sample on the social and economic factors affecting the size of the family.

The Percentage of Vaccine Hesitancy among Married Individuals in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross Sectional Study in Riyadh City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

<b><i>Background:</i></b> Vaccines are largely regarded as one of medicine’s greatest breakthroughs, yet vaccination rates have been declining in many parts of the world in recent years. Although there are numerous contributing variables to decreased vaccination rates, it is critical to evaluate the impact of the relevant factors. Also, because we are in the midst of a sad epidemic and vaccination for COVID-19 is critical to maintaining public health and limiting the virus’s spread, there is a risk of vaccine rejection on the horizon. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Five hundred and fourteen married Riyadh inhabitants aged 18 years and over were issued an online Web-based survey. The research took place from June to October 2020. The study calculates the percentage of vaccination apprehension and analyzes immunization attitudes and knowledge. It also contrasts the participants’ attitudes regarding vaccines before and during the COVID-19 global pandemic, as well as the associated causes for vaccine reluctance and rejection. <b><i>Result:</i></b> The majority of the respondents (48.1%) were between 37–47 and 26–36 years of age (37.5%). Females (80%) made up the majority of the group. Around 66.3% of participants have a bachelor’s degree, and 80.8% have an average monthly income. During the pandemic, 38.5% of participants said they do not want to be vaccinated. When comparing vaccine-hesitant participants’ sociodemographic characteristics, it was discovered that the percentage of vaccine-hesitant participants was significantly higher in the younger age-group (&#x3c;36 years), those who had been married for more than 10 years, those with 1–3 children (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.001), and those who did not work (<i>p</i> = 0.002). <b><i>Conclusion:</i></b> The percentage of people who are hesitant to get vaccinated has grown by 5.2% from the previous level, and the level of reluctance has increased by 2.3%.

Local Climate Zones and Thermal Characteristics in Riyadh City, Saudi Arabia

Using the local climate zone (LCZ) framework and multiple Earth observation input features, an LCZ classification was developed and established for Riyadh City in 2017. Four land-cover-type and four urban-type LCZs were identified in the city with an overall accuracy of 87%. The bare soil/sand (LCZ-F) class was found to be the largest LCZ class, which was within the nature of arid climate cities. Other land-cover LCZs had a lower coverage percentage (each class with <7%). The compact low-rise (LCZ-3) class was the largest urban type, as urban development in arid climate cities tends to extend horizontally. The daytime surface thermal characteristics of the developed LCZs were analyzed at seasonal timescales using land surface temperature (LST) estimated from multiple Landsat 8 satellite images (June 2017–May 2018). The highest daytime mean LST was found over large low-rise (LCZ-8) class areas throughout the year. This class was the only urban-type LCZ class that demonstrated a positive LST departure from the overall mean LST across seasons. Other urban-type LCZ classes showed lower LSTs and negative deviations from the overall mean LSTs. The overall thermal results suggested the presence of the surface urban heat island sink phenomenon as urban areas experienced lower LSTs than their surroundings. Thermal results demonstrated that the magnitudes of LST differences among LCZs were considerably dependent on the way the region of interest/analysis was defined. This was related to the types of LCZ classes presented in the study area and the spatial distribution and abundance of these LCZ classes. The developed LCZ classification and thermal results have several potential applications in different areas including planning and urban design strategies and urban health-related studies.

Effect of Parental Socioeconomic Indicators on Oral Health Related Quality of Life of their Children in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Aim: There is scientific evidence that there is correlation between socioeconomic status and oral health integrity, more specifically children affected by dental caries have a reduced quality of life This research will thus shed light on the factors proving this correlation between the oral health related quality of life (OHRQoL) of their young children and parental socioeconomic status that is backed up by their occupation, income, and educational level. Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study that collected the oral health information for children from their parents in different areas of Riyadh City. The study comprised parents from different areas in Riyadh City who were enrolled through simple random sampling technique. Sample Size of 350 was estimated using online Raosoft® sample size calculator based on acceptable margin error of 5%, confidence level of 95%. Results: overall ECOHIS score showed significant differences across the educational levels of mother (F=4.668, P = 0.003) and father (F=2.821, P = 0.039). However, child impact score (F=0.717, P = 0.581), family impact score (F=0.930, P = 0.447) and overall ECOHIS scores (F=0.900, P = 0.465) did not differ significantly across the various employment categories of mothers Conclusion: Parental socioeconomic conditions have a direct influence on OHRQoL of their children measured on ECOHIS. These factors should be attentively addressed when planning oral health promotion interventions for the Saudi Arabian population. Based on our study, these strategies should take into account socially and financially disadvantaged groups along with oral health behaviors and clinical variables. Keywords: oral health, socioeconomic status, caries