Purpose: Several factors influence the student's physical activity and lifestyle. The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) lockdown has restricted student's activity and altered their routine lifestyle. This prospective cohort study aimed to determine the significant changes in body mass index (BMI), physical activity, and lifestyle of the students including diet, sleep, and mental health before and during COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: The study participants were 628 students studying bachelor's degree programs, between 18 and 30 years of age, both genders from the university of Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. The lockdown began on 23 March and ended on 21 June 2020 in Saudi Arabia. The students were interviewed before (March 2020) and during (June 2020) lockdown. The structured tool included baseline information of the students, anthropometric data, global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ), dietary recall, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and perceived stress scale (PSP). Chi-square tests were used to associate the baseline information with BMI changes during the lockdown. Results: BMI of the students showed that 32% increased their weight, 22% lost their weight and 46% maintained the same weight during COVID-19 lockdown. The physical activity significantly decreased and sedentary time increased (p = 0.0001). Regarding the lifestyle components, fast and fried food consumption decreased, and calorie intake increased significantly (p = 0.001). Stress level (p = 0.001) significantly decreased, and sleep level (p = 0.001) increased during lockdown. The variables associated with weight changes were the level of students (p < 0.05) and time spent on social media per day (p < 0.0001). Conclusion:Though half of the students maintained the same BMI during the lockdown, students who increased BMI were associated with physical activity and lifestyle. Hence, health awareness on weight maintenance, active physical activities, and a healthy lifestyle must be created among the students, which help in creating and implementing policies in the future.

No abstract

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health problem. CKD causes patients to be hospitalized for a longer time to treat the disease. The impact of the hospitalization brings major changes and affects the quality of life (QoL) of the patients. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of hospitalization on the QoL of patients with CKD. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the inpatient departments (IPDs) and outpatient departments (OPDs) of selected hospitals, in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. The kidney disease quality of life (KDQOL) scale was used for the data collection and the findings were analyzed. The hospitalized patients had a poorer QoL than the OPD patients. The physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) mean scores were 52.82 ± 2.32 and 52.57 ± 2.93 in IPD patients, respectively, and 63.46 ± 3.65 and 66.39 ± 0.91 in OPD patients, respectively, which was significant (p < 0.0001). The QoL of patients decreased in the end stages of CKD. A significant association was observed between gender, occupation, smoking, and the stages of CKD with the QoL of the hospitalized patients. Measures must be taken to improve the QoL of these patients at all levels.

Background: Needle prick injuries are common among the health care providers all over the world. Nursing students are no exception because they perform their clinical activities during the period of their study. Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the awareness of needle prick injuries among the first year nursing students at school of nursing in a selected Medical Center, Malaysia. Betty Neuman's systems model was used in this study as a theoretical framework. Methods and materials: A cross sectional descriptive design was used and the target populations were the first year diploma nursing students studying at the medical Center. Universal sampling technique was used to choose the participants in this study. There were 197 participants. Data was collected using selfdeveloped questionnaire and analysed using SPSS version 20. Results: The study results shows that most of the students 131 (66.4%) have good knowledge and awareness about needle prick injuries, meanwhile 61 (30.9%) have moderate knowledge and 5 (2.5%) have poor knowledge. Conclusion: The study findings will give other nursing educational institutions some insight to improve the contents of teaching related to needle prick injuries in order to improve students' knowledge and awareness about needle prick injuries. INTRODUCTIONAccording to World Health Organization (WHO), 35.7 million health care workers in the world are exposed to the risk of needle prick injuries. Recently over 20 million dedicated health care providers were exposed to biological, chemical and mechanical hazards daily. The World Health Organization estimates that approximately three million health care providers are exposed to blood and the body fluids due to needle or sharps injuries annually. Due to these exposures, approximately 1000 health care providers are estimated to suffer from serious infections annually. Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that around 600,000 to one million needle prick injuries cases occur every year. But unfortunately, about half of the needle prick injuries were not reported.[1] It is also reported that insufficient clinical experience and occupational safety training is provided by nursing schools and hospitals, hence nursing students are at high risk of needle prick injuries. [2]. The Health Unit of Ministry of Health, Malaysia, reported that the incidence rate of 4.7 needle prick injuries per 1,000 is among the health care workers in 2005.[3] According to Mohd Faid et al. (2005), the number of reported injuries among the health care workers in the Ministry of health, Malaysia from September 1997 to December 1999 was a total of 556 cases and, among them total 403 (72.5%) cases were caused by needle prick injuries.[4] A report by the Sabah State Health Department, Malaysia showed that the highest percentage (74.5%) of needle prick injuries occurred among the staff nurses. [5] Needle prick injuries among the health care providers are recognized as one of the occupational health hazard. It can cause a significant risk to the health ...

No abstract