BackgroundPreoperative anxiety is a frequent and challenging problem that may impact a patient's postoperative pain and satisfaction. The level of a patient's anxiety needs to be assessed through a valid and reliable instrument to prevent and treat preoperative anxiety effectively. One such reliable measurement scale is Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and information scale, which is based on a self-reported questionnaire but is still not validated in Arabic. ObjectiveTo validate the Arabic Version of the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS) for assessing preoperative anxiety in the Arabic population. MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted to translate and evaluate the validity of the APAIS in the Arabic version. The targeted population was Saudi adults undergoing surgery at the King Fahad Hospital in the Qassim region of Saudi Arabia. One hundred hospital patients were recruited and given the APAIS questionnaire to collect the data. The ethical considerations have been appropriately followed to protect the privacy of the patient's history. The collected data was qualitative and quantitative, which were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). ResultsThe questionnaire showed high internal consistency on the anxiety scale (Cronbach's alpha: 0.851) and a strong correlation between age, chronic diseases, and surgery. While Cronbach's alpha for the information scale is 0.827. The gold standard curve between the worried and afraid two variables showed good efficiency during the configuration. In addition, the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) model of the Arabic version is a two-factor model to evaluate the validity of the Arabic version. ConclusionThe Arabic Version of the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and information scale (APAIS) is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing preoperative anxiety. Using this validated scale for Arabic patients is feasible and shows promising results.

Background: The coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a global public health disaster imposing a nationwide lockdown. This study was undertaken to determine the impact of COVID-19 quarantine on physical, nutritional, psychosocial life, and work aspects on the population of Saudi Arabia. Methods: Data collection was based on the fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) and was analyzed by the Likert-type scale. A total of 2828 individuals participated during their COVID-19 quarantine. The data were collected during June 10–17, 2020 using the psychosocial FCV-19S. Results: COVID-19 quarantine was negatively correlated with the physical, nutritional, psychosocial life and work aspects of the Saudi Arabia’s population (P < 0.05). As a result of the correlation analysis, gender, sociodemographic status and having a family member dying of COVID-19, marital status (single), monthly income (<3000) and occupation (student), and lost a job or businesses were significantly associated with fear of COVID-19 (P < 0.05). Furthermore, the participants reported a reduction in their physical activity by 59%, whereas 26.5% of participants showed an increase of body weight. Moreover, 23% of participants lost their jobs during the pandemic. Conclusions: The lockdown period was associated with an increase in the COVID-19 fear score. The degree FCV-19S was varied in different categories in several aspects. Low levels of physical activity and weight gained were observed during the lockdown period.

BACKGROUND: Medical students in their academic years are generally under stress but very few studies revealed the relationship between the stress and how the students manage to adapt these stressful conditions. AIM: The aim of the study was to investigate the levels of stress and their adaptive coping in the 1st 3 years medical students and also to determine the factors associated with adaptive coping strategies. METHODS: This is a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted on 441 medical students of Qassim University from September-October 2019. First 3 years medical students were randomly selected and their stress levels or adaptive coping strategies were determined by general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) and strategies coping mechanisms (SCM), respectively. The 5-points Likert scale was used for scoring and the data obtained were further validated by DASS and Brief COPE scales. RESULTS: Out of 441 medical students, 39.2% agreed to participate. The data showed that the level of stress among students was highest during their 1st year academic blocks, followed by 2nd and 3rd year students. Interesting, the adaptive coping among them was found highest during the academic blocks of 3rd year students, followed by the 2nd and 1st year students. Importantly, female students showed better adaptation against stress. Students living with their parents avoided stress in better ways as compared to those who were living alone. CONCLUSION: This is the first study that shows an inverse correlation between the stress and adaptive coping in medical students of Qassim University. The data concluded that adaptation of stress in the 3rd-year students was the highest followed by 2nd and 1st year medical students. Moreover, female students adapted well against stress and students living alone showed worse adaptation of stress.

Background It has been a short time since the last wave of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic began. The deaths were approximately 6.55M out of 618M confirmed cases. Although future pandemics are inevitable, specific measures could reduce these risks. This study is first of its kind conducted on this topic in Saudi Arabia aimed at assessing the preparedness and response of the public toward future pandemics in the Qassim region. Methods: A analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted using a pre-validated questionnaire involving 1200 individuals in Qassim region, Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was distributed among general population at public places. Data entry and statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS). Results The results show that people suffered emotionally, psychologically, and economically during the pandemic. A large number of people have tested positive for COVID. They were not ready to stay in lockdown during any future pandemic as they had not yet recovered from the previous economic loss. Conclusion This survey is a valuable tool for policymakers in public health. This study can help to strengthen the weaknesses of health centers and provide better facilities for people during future pandemics.

Objectives: The study sought to ascertain the prevalence; various methods used for self-ear cleaning practice and identify injuries during self-ear cleaning malpractice among medical students. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study with an online validated questionnaire conducted electronically from January to October 2022 among first, second, third, fourth and fifth-year medical students at Qassim University, including males and females in Qassim Region, Saudi Arabia. The study sample consisted of 386 participants: Males (n=202; 52.3%) and females (n=184; 47.7%). The distribution on the level of education was 1st year (n=85; 22%), 2nd year (n=67; 17.4%), 3rd year (n=81; 21%), 4th year (n=66; 17.1%) and 5th year (n=87; 22.5%). Results: The prevalence of self-ear cleaning practices among medical students is 83.2%, males (78%) and females (89%). The association between self-ear cleaning and experiencing ear or damage to the eardrum had no significant finding (χ² (1) = 0.017, p = 0.895). The students in the study acknowledge that they experienced different forms of ear symptoms. In terms of ear symptoms, itching was the most common (32.9%), followed by earache (27.2%) and a feeling of fullness (26.2%). The least frequent symptoms were vertigo (7%) and ear discharge (7.5%). Overall, there were significant differences between the methods used to clean the ears especially ear buds (93%) were the most common method. Conclusion:Our study demonstrates that, despite senior medical students' knowledge of medicine, self-ear cleaning still exists. This brings to a close the widespread lack of knowledge regarding how the ear naturally cleans itself.Therefore, the study advises highlighting the requirement for a medical education program on the issues with public health brought on by self-ear cleaning.