Waqas Sami

Risky health behaviors among students in Majmaah University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Risky behaviors are those that potentially expose people to harm, or significant risk of harm, which prevent them from reaching their potential in life and which can cause significant morbidity or mortality. Objectives: The objectives of the study were to determine the overall prevalence of risky behaviors among university students; to determine the prevalence of smoking, drifting, fast driving and physical inactivity among university students; and to determine the associations between such behavior and demographic characteristics. Materials and Methods: An observational cross-sectional study conducted in three colleges. The data were randomly collected from 340 students aged 18-30 years from February to March 2015 using a self-administered questionnaire in Arabic. The data were entered using SPSS v 22.0. Mean and standard deviation were calculated for quantitative variables, and frequency and percentages were computed for categorical variables. Chi-square or Fisher′s Exact test, as appropriate, were used to test for statistical significance. Results: The overall prevalence of risky behaviors (smoking, drifting, fast driving, and physical inactivity) among students was 47.35%. Overall, 28% of the students were smokers, 25.2% were involved in drifting, 60.9% reported driving fast, and 66.4% were physically inactive. The age between 18-20 years was significantly associated with higher rates of drifting, fast driving, and physical inactivity. Conclusion: The prevalence of risky behaviors among university students was high. Physical inactivity and fast driving were the most common identified risky behaviors. Increasing awareness of these risks in the youth may significantly decrease related morbidities, complications, and even mortalities.

Public knowledge and attitudes toward epilepsy in Majmaah.

Objectives: Epilepsy is very common in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, occurring in 6.54 out of every 1000 individuals. The current study was conducted to determine the level of public awareness of and attitudes toward epilepsy in the city of Majmaah, Saudi Arabia. Subjects and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted in Majmaah, Saudi Arabia. The study population included respondents derived from preselected public places in the city. Stratified random sampling was used, and the sample size was made up of 706 individuals. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection from respondents after receiving their verbal consent. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 2.0. Ethical approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Majmaah University. Results: The results showed that 575 (81.4%) of the respondents had heard or read about epilepsy. Almost 50% of the respondents knew someone who had epilepsy, and 393 (55.7%) had witnessed what they believed to be a seizure. Results showed that 555 (78.6%) respondents believed that epilepsy was neither a contagious disease nor a type of insanity. It was found that 335 (47.5%) stated that epilepsy was a brain disease, and almost one-quarter of the respondents said that the manifestation of an epileptic episode is a convulsion. Regarding attitude, 49% and 47.3% of respondents stated that they would not allow their children to interact with individuals with epilepsy and would object to marrying an individual with epilepsy, respectively. Conclusion: Although knowledge about epilepsy is improving, it is still not adequate. The study showed that the attitude toward epilepsy is poor.

Perception of medical undergraduate students about interactive lectures in an outcome-based integrated curriculum: A cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to explore the students perspectives toward the interactive lectures as a teaching and learning method in an integrated curriculum. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 1st, 2nd and 3rd year male medical students (n = 121). A self-administered questionnaire based on the Visual, Auditory, Reader, Kinesthetic learning styles, learning theories, and role of feedback in teaching and learning on five-point Likert rating scale was used. The questionnaire was constructed after extensive literature review. RESULTS: There was an 80% response rate in this study. The total number of undergraduate medical students responded in the study were n = 97, 34 students of 1st year, n = 30 students of 2nd year and n = 33 student were in 3rd year, the mean scores of the student responses were calculated using Independent samples Kruskal–Wallis. There was no significant difference in the responses of the students of different years except for the question “The Interactive lectures facilitate effective use of learning resources.” Which showed significant difference in the responses of the 3 years students by Independent samples Kruskal–Wallis test. No significant association was found between the year of study and items of the questionnaire except for the same item, “ The Interactive lectures facilitates effective use of learning resources” by Spearman rank correlation test. CONCLUSION: The students perceive interactive lecture as an effective tool for facilitating visual and auditory learning modes, and for achieving curricular strategies. The student find the feedback given during the interactive lectures is effective in modifying learning attitude and enhancing motivation toward learning.

Diabetes mellitus knowledge of type 2 diabetic patients, Almajmaah, Saudi Arabia

The aim of our study was to assess the level of knowledge of type 2 Saudi diabetics regarding diabetes and its domains (symptoms and causes,complications, food and exercise, medication, prevention of diabetes, investigations and understanding of diabetes). This cross-sectional study was conducted on type 2 diabetic Saudi patients visiting the Primary Health Care Centers in Almajmaah city. The data comprising 350 patients was collected from 5th February –24th April, 2017 through a systematic sampling technique using the direct investigation method. Data was collected through self – developed validated questionnaire. Type 2 diabetics had overall poor diabetes mellitus knowledge (42.41%, P<0.001) when compared with the threshold value of 50%. Moreover, diabetics had poor knowledge in all domains i.e. symptoms and causes (33.33%), complications (47.75%), food and exercise (43.40%), medication (29.75%), prevention of diabetes (30%), investigations (35%) and understanding of diabetes (38%). Based on our findings, interventions are required and patients should be empowered for better self-management of diabetes through educational programmes.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus: Link between diet, HbA1c and complications

Diabetes mellitus is now globally considered as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. It is associated with high rates of microvascular and macrovascular complications. Regular consumption of high caloric food, poor dietary habits and adoption of sedentary life style has been linked with the development of type 2 diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this review is; to highlight the influence of diet on HbA1c in type 2 diabetics, to explore association between HbA1c and diabetes complications and to propose a dietary consultation model for more effective diabetes care. The literature was reviewed intensively from January – March 2016 through PubMed central, Medscape, Google Scholar and other databases. The keywords and MeSH terms used in this search were “diabetes mellitus”, “glycated haemoglobin”, “type 2 diabetes mellitus”, “diet and type 2 diabetes mellitus” and “diabetes complications”. Dietary management is a superior option for glycaemic control in type 2 diabetes mellitus. It is important to keep the HbA1c level in acceptable range to delay the onset and progression of diabetes complications. In this review, various food groups that can have beneficial and adverse effects on HbA1c have been identified. Moreover, Diabetic Retinopathy (DR) stood out as the most prevalent complication of poorly managed diabetes mellitus in Saudi Arabia. The dimensions of the proposed dietary consultation model are based on the assessment of diabetics’ diabetes mellitus knowledge, dietary knowledge, dietary attitude and dietary practices. This assessment if carried out at the initial stage of Diabetes mellitus can be helpful in delaying the early onset and progression of microvascular and macrovascular diabetes complications.