The prevalence of self-prescribed complementary medicine (CM) use is an area of concern across the Middle East. We conducted a descriptive qualitative study to describe women’s use of CM during their childbearing years in Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Iran. The study conducted using face to face audio-recorded interviews with 70 participants. Our findings showed that women used several herbal plants to ease pain and discomfort during menstruation and/or during pregnancy and in postpartum care. Acupuncture, meditation, and massage were less likely to be used by women. The impact of CM was often described in relation to perceived usefulness and safety of herbs. Cultural beliefs and roles of women contributed to the use of herbs among women. Given the high use of herbal medicine, there is a need for discussion about the potential of adverse effects of some plants or their metabolites following self-medication during the childbearing years.

Background: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the major cause of vision loss in adults with diabetes mellitus (DM) and the most common micro vascular diabetic complication. Strict glycaemic control and early detection and appropriate management are key to halting disease progression. Aim: investigate type 2 diabetes patient’s awareness and KAP regarding retinopathy in two Middle East countries. Methods: A cross-sectional multinational survey was conducted among all patients agreed to participate and fulfill the inclusion criteria at DM clinics in one Egyptian and one Saudi hospital (400 Egyptians and 394 Saudi patients). Two interview questionnaires were used in data collection. Results: There was statistically significant relationship between the Egyptian and Saudi patients ' knowledge, attitude, and practice (p <0.001).  Significant relationship between patients’ awareness with knowledge and practice (p <0.001), while, no significant relationships were founded between patients’ awareness and attitude. Regarding socio-demographic traits in both studied groups, lower age patients, females, patients have less than 5 years of DM duration, patients have previous family history for DM, patient have good glycemic control all have better KAP in relation to DM and DR. Conclusions: Saudi T2D patients showed better awareness, knowledge, and attitude toward DR.

Adverse incidents are a global issue and constitute the leading cause of death, although many are preventable. Patient safety is a significant challenge faced by healthcare professionals in hospitals. It is an essential element of high-quality care, which can negatively cause a deficiency in reporting clinical incidents. Healthcare professionals report only 1-3% of clinical incidents. Aim: This study investigated healthcare providers' awareness of occurrence variance reports and their magnitude at accredited versus non-accredited hospitals. Material and methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was used. Three hundred seventy-three healthcare providers participated in the study (232 staff nurses, 96 physicians, and 45 pharmacists). They were recruited using a convenience sample from two universal health insurance hospitals in Port-Said, Egypt. Data collection tools: The Occurrence Variance Report (OVR) awareness questionnaire and OVR (paper-based forms) were used to report incidents in the two hospitals, with 522 from the accredited hospital and 258 from the non-accredited hospital. Results: It pointed out that healthcare providers in the accredited hospital had the highest awareness mean score of occurrence variance report (224.53) compared to non-accredited hospitals (153.47). Also, the accredited hospital had a higher frequency of all occurrence variance report classifications than a non-accredited hospital, with near misses being the most common (170) than other types, followed by sentinel events (148), major events (109), and occurrences (95). Conclusion: The total score of awareness dimensions and the total score of OVR frequency reported by all healthcare providers in the two hospitals had a moderately significant relationship (r = 0.283 at p = 0.045*). Recommendations: Implement policies that organize safe cultural behaviors, such as writing occurrence variance reports and holding frequent training sessions on the importance of incident reporting. Furthermore, more research is suggested to identify factors and barriers influencing the OVR system.

Background: perioperative morbidity and mortality are significant public health concerns due to their influence on patients' short-and long-term survival as well as the use of healthcare resources. The aim of this study research was to evaluate the effect of Enhanced Recovery Pathway application on perioperative outcomes among women undergoing gynecological oncology operations. Methods: A comparative quasi-experimental research design was used on a convenient sample of 112 women diagnosed with gynecological malignancy. The study group (56) got perioperative routine hospital care along with the implementation of an enhanced recovery pathway, and the control group (56) received perioperative routine hospital care only at the gynecology/ obstetrics and operating room of gynecological departments in Suez Canal University and Oncology Institute hospitals in Ismailia city. Tools: (T1) a structured interview questionnaire, (T2) assessment record for women undergoing gynecological oncology operations, (T3) Visual Analogue Scale. Results: There was a statistically significant difference between the studied groups; women who underwent gynecological oncology operation in the study group were significantly likely to experience less pain score, decrease in length of hospital stay, early postoperative bowel mobility with p-value (0.001,0.004,0.010 respectively) and decrease incidence of postoperative complications. Conclusion: As a result of the study's findings, women undergoing gynecological oncology surgery experienced fewer postoperative complications and better postoperative outcomes. Recommendation: Apply enhanced recovery pathway applications, which were successful for women following gynecological oncology surgery, to speed up recovery at the study sites and other healthcare facilities.

Background: Hypertension is the major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases that recently increased in Egypt and African regions has the highest prevalence of hypertension which can be controlled by self-care. The aim of the study was to determine the effect of belief, attitude, subjective norm, and enabling factors (BASNEF) model on knowledge and self-care behaviours for hypertensive patients. Methods: A quasi-experimental design was conducted for this study (experimental /control group). Setting: The study was conducted at Damanhur University Hospital, Egypt. Sample: A purposive sample of 100 patients with hypertension was divided randomly and assigned into two groups (50 intervention groups and 50 control groups) from the beginning of September 2021 to the end of February 2022.  Tools: two tools were used for data collection, tool I: A structured questionnaire designed based on the BASNEF model components. Tool II: checklist about patient's self-control behaviors concerning blood pressure control. Results: The mean total scores of all BASNEF Model components were significantly improved post-intervention in the experimental group compared to the control group (P < 0.001).