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Background: During clinical training, medical students may have close contact with COVID-19infected patients. Lack of proper knowledge about COVID-19 dynamics and prevention makes them more liable to infection. Objective: To evaluate the level of awareness, precautionary behavior, and risk perception regarding COVID-19 and identify the factors motivating and hindering medical students to take preventive measures.

PurposePatient safety indicators (PSIs) were developed as a tool for hospitals to identify potentially preventable complications and improve patient safety performance. The study aimed at measuring the incidence of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) PSI03 (pressure ulcer [PU] rate) and to identify the association between PSI03 and clinical outcomes including death, readmission within 30 days and length of stay (LOS) at the cardiothoracic surgery hospital at Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.Design/methodology/approachAn exploratory prospective cohort study was conducted to follow up patients, who fulfilled the inclusion criteria, from admission until one month after discharge at the cardiothoracic surgery hospital. Data were collected through basic information and follow-up sheets. The total number of included participants in the study was 330.FindingsPSI03 incidence rate was 67.7 per 1,000 discharges. Patients aged 60 years and above had the highest risk among all age groups. In patients who developed PSI03, the risk ratio (RR) of death was 8.8 [95% CI (3.79–20.24)], RR of staying more than 30 days at the hospital was 1.5 [95% CI (1.249–1.872)] and of readmission within 30 days in patients who developed PSI03 was 1.5 [95% CI (0.38–6.15)]. In the study’s hospital, the patients who developed PSI03 were at higher risk of death and stayed longer at the hospital than patients without PSI03. This study demonstrated a clear association between PSI03 and patient outcomes such as LOS and mortality. Early detection, prevention and proper management of PSI03 are recommended to decrease unfavorable clinical outcomes.Originality/valueThe importance of PSIs lies in the fact that they facilitate the recognition of the adverse events and complications which occurred during hospitalization and give the hospitals a chance to improve the possible clinical outcomes. Therefore, the current study aimed at measuring the association between AHRQ PSI03 ( PU rate) and the clinical outcomes including death, readmission within 30 days and the LOS at the cardiothoracic surgery hospital at Ain Shams University. This study will provide the hospital management with baseline data for this type of adverse event and guide them to develop a system for identifying the high-risk group of patients and to upgrade relevant hospital policies and guidelines that lead to improved patient outcomes.

Background The world is currently facing a pandemic of vitamin D deficiency especially women in child bearing age, during pregnancy and nursing mothers. One of the major reasons for the worldwide spread of this nutritional disorder has been lack of awareness about the importance of vitamin D and prevention of deficient states across populations. Objectives To assess the knowledge and attitude of mothers attending primary health care center in Cairo towards vitamin D importance, to identify mothers' practices towards vitamin D, its supplementation & sun light exposure. Subjects & Methods A cross sectional study was conducted among mothers attending “100 meters” primary health care center in El-Sherouk city in Cairo. A sample of 195 mothers were interviewed using structured questionnaire to collect data including socio-demographic characteristics, mother’s knowledge about the importance of Vitamin D, mother’s attitude and practices towards taking vitamin D, its supplementation and sun light exposure for herself and her child. Scoring system was designed for knowledge, attitude and practice of mothers. A short targeted health education message was given to the participating mothers about vitamin D importance in the form of flyers. Results Less than one quarter of the mothers (22.6%) had a good knowledge towards vitamin D and its supplementation (total knowledge score percentage > 50%) . The highest knowledge about benefits of vitamin D was “bone health” and the least knowledge recalled by mothers were “prevention of depression and obesity”. Thirty six percent of mothers had a positive attitude towards vitamin D and its supplementation (total attitude score percentage ≥75%) & forty six percent of mothers had a good practice towards vitamin D and its supplementation ( total practice score percentage ≥75%) . More than half of mothers (53.5%) were exposed to the sun from 10 am to 3 pm. The majority of mothers (91.1%) were exposed to the sun more than one hour per week. Only (48.7%) of the mothers gave their children vitamin D supplementation & about half of them (52%) started giving vitamin D supplement to her children since birth. Highly educated mothers had better knowledge and practice score than others (P value < 0.05). Conclusion & Recommendation Less than one quarter of the mothers had a good knowledge towards vitamin D and its supplementation while about three fifths of the mothers had a positive attitude regarding vitamin D and its supplementation & less than half of the mothers had a good practice towards vitamin D and its supplementation. Implementing awareness campaigns and future health education programs may help in building more awareness about the vitamin D importance.