This study intends to explore the predictors of misconceptions, knowledge, attitudes, and practices concerning the COVID-19 pandemic among a sample of the Saudi population and we also assessed their approaches toward its overall impact. This online cross-sectional survey was conducted at the Faculty of Medicine, Rabigh, King Abdulaziz University (KAU) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (SA). Participants were approached via social media (SM), and 2006 participants (953 [47.5%] females and 1053 [52.5%] males) were included in this study. SM was the leading source of information for 43.9% of the study participants. Most of the participants had various misconceptions such as “females are more vulnerable to develop this infection, rinsing the nose with saline and sipping water every 15 minutes protects against Coronavirus, flu and pneumonia vaccines protect against this virus.” About one-third of participants (31.7%) had self-reported disturbed social, mental, and psychological wellbeing due to the pandemic. Many participants became more religious during this pandemic. Two-thirds of the study participants (68.1%) had good knowledge scores. Attitudes were highly positive in 93.1%, and practice scores were adequate in 97.7% of the participants. Participants’ educational status was a predictor of high knowledge scores. Male gender and divorced status were predictors of low practice scores, and aged 51–61 years, private-sector jobs, and student status were predictors of high practice scores. Being Saudi was a predictor of a positive attitude, while the male gender and divorced status were predictors of a negative attitude. Higher education was a predictor of good concepts, while the older age and businessmen were predictors of misconceptions. Overall, our study participants had good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practices, but several myths were also prevalent. Being a PhD and a Saudi national predicted high knowledge scores and positive attitudes, respectively. A higher education level was a predictor of good concepts, and students, private-sector jobs, and aged 51–61 years were predictors of high practice scores. Study participants had good understanding of the effects of this pandemic.

BackgroundMedical students have high levels of stress that could be due to the daily life stressors and the extra stress of academic burden. The present study investigated the perceived stress level as well as the reasons and sources of stress among medical students at a comparatively newly established medical college affiliated with King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (SA).MethodsThe present study was carried out at Rabigh Medical College (RMC), KAU, Jeddah, and completed in 2015. The data was collected by an anonymous self-administered questionnaire that has three components: a list of 33 items of probable stressors, perceived stress scale, and demographic information and academics.ResultsThe response rate in our study was 86% (152/176), the mean age was 20.35 ± 1.09, 77 (51%) were from preclinical years and 75 (49%) from clinical years. The mean PSS score among our participants was 28.5 ± 3.8 with a median of 28.0 (IQR 26.0–31.0) and 59.2% of participants were stressed. The mean PSS score 30.6 ± 4.4 for students with sibling > 5 was significantly higher as compared to the mean PSS score (27.9 ± 3.3) for students with sibling ≤5. Similarly, the mean PSS score (32.0 ± 3.4) of students with often/always occurrence of psychosocial stressors was higher as compared to the mean PSS score (28.3 ± 3.7) of those students with less than a frequent occurrence of stressors. Moreover, those students that were more stressed had lower marks in the last exam (< 80%) as compared to students with less stress who had higher marks (≥80%) (P < .05).Performance in practicals, examinations frequency, disappointment with the class lectures, lack of personal interest in medicine, lengthy academic curriculum/syllabus, worries about the future and periodic examinations performance were rated as severe.The logistic regression analysis showed that stress cases were linked with last exam marks [OR 1.26, 95% CI 0.64–2.48], number of siblings [OR 2.27, 95% CI 0.97–5.27], and academic stressor [OR 2.02, 95% CI 0.61–6.66] but no significant relationship was found.ConclusionThere were high-stress levels among the participants of this study, and the main stressors were academic-related.

Objective:To identify the frequency and reasons of operations cancellation in 25 Makkah region hospitals in Saudi Arabia.Methods:Retrospective evaluation of the rate of surgery cancellation in 25 hospitals of Makkah region was performed in this study. The data of scheduled surgeries from 15 different surgical specialties was collected from January to December 2013. Frequency and reasons of cancellation of elective surgical cases in different specialty were studied with a view to recommend suggestions for improvement. Data was analyzed on SPSS -16.Results:There are 120 operating rooms (OR) in 25 Makkah region hospitals and during the year 2013, a total of 16,211 surgery cases were listed, and 1,238 (7.6%) cases were canceled. Contribution to total cancellation was highest in orthopedic 33.8% followed by general surgery 27.5%, obstetrics 7.7% and ENT 5.2%. According to category, 42.81% rate of cancellation was patient related, 20.03% facility related, 9.45% due to improper work-up, 1.45% associated with anesthesia, 7.19% related to surgeons, and 18.90% other/and not recorded reasons.Conclusions:Present study found 7.6% cancelation rate in Makkah region hospitals and three most common causes for cancellations were patients related, facility related and improper work-up.

The notable finding from this study is the high prevalence of E. histolytica. Overall, parasitic infections were more prevalent in patients under five years of age and in non-Saudi nationals.

Objectives:To investigate the prevalence of obesity and hypertension among University students’ and their knowledge and attitude towards risk factors of cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Jeddah,: Saudi Arabia.Methods:A total of 610 male students were selected for present cross sectional study and their blood pressure (BP) and body mass index (BMI) was determined, other data was gathered through a questionnaire, and SPSS-16 was used for analyzing data.Results:Out of 610 students, 7.5% were hypertensive (systolic 2.6% and diastolic 6.3%) while the BMI of 51.6% was in the normal range, 29.8% were overweight and 10.7% were moderately obese and 7.9% were severely obese. Majority of the participants considered that smoking, increased fatty food intake, obesity, high BP, and increased LDL-cholesterol level, are the main causes of the CVD. Most of the participants agreed that one should know his BP, blood sugar, serum cholesterol and one should maintain normal body weight and should do regular exercise. They were also aware that healthy lifestyle could prevent CVD. However, majority of the participants were not practicing healthy lifestyle.Conclusion:A huge gap exists in the knowledge, attitude and practice regarding risk factors of CVD among the university students.