Medical Students In Riyadh Research Articles

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice on Diabetic Retinopathy among Final-Year Medical Students in Riyadh.

This study aimed to evaluate the awareness, knowledge, and attitude on diabetic retinopathy of final-year medical students and the association of knowledge, attitude, and practice with the gender of medical students. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the College of Medicine, Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The initial part of the questionnaire included demographic details, while the remaining parts of the questionnaire included six questions on knowledge, four on attitude, and three on practice. IBM SPSS Statistics 24 was used to retrieve and analyze data from an Excel file. A P value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Of 84 medical students, 51 (60.71%) and 33 (39.19%) were male and female medical students, respectively. The total knowledge score for male and female medical students was 4.28 (SD = 0.92). The majority of students correctly answered practice questions, indicating good significant practice toward diabetic retinopathy among diabetic patients with A score of 1.93 (SD = 0.83). The majority of final-year medical students were good in knowledge and practice toward prevention and treatment of diabetic retinopathy, which helps them become better future care providers for patients with diabetes and diabetic retinopathy.

Interventional radiology perception among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Interventional Radiology (IR) is a specialized field within radiology that diagnoses and treats a variety of conditions through minimally invasive surgical procedures involving various radiological techniques. In recent years, the role of IR has expanded to include a range of organ systems, leading to an increased demand for this specialty. The present study aimed at investigating the perceptions of interventional radiology (IR) as a specialty among medical students and medical interns in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Methods: This study employed a cross-sectional design, targeting male and female medical students in Riyadh City, KSA, in January 2023. We utilized a questionnaire for face-to-face and phone interviews to assess their knowledge about IR. The data were cleared and entered through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: A total of 314 students participated in the study, with 49% in the preclinical years and 51% in the clinical years. Forty-two percent reported that they had poor information and knowledge about IR. Only 28% of students were planning to take an elective and radiology rotation, while 27% said they would consider a career in IR. Among the 73% of participants who would not consider a career in IR, the highest reasons, in order, were \&amp;quot;I do not find it interesting\&amp;quot; (45%), \&amp;quot;Radiation exposure\&amp;quot; (14%), and \&amp;quot;The lifestyle is not for me\&amp;quot; (12%). Regarding training, 48% thought that an IR must complete a residency training program in both radiology and surgery, and only 36% of the students believed that an IR must finish training in radiology. Conclusion: Our findings reveal that the perception and exposure to IR among medical students and interns are generally poor. This has a direct influence on the students\&amp;apos; decision regarding IR as a career.

Prevalence of obesity and bariatric surgery among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Bariatric surgery is considered as a successful weight loss intervention in patients with high body mass index (BMI) and also in patients who are unable to lose weight in a nonsurgical way. To measure the prevalence of obesity among medical students and the association between obesity and lifestyle and obesity and the rate of bariatric surgery in obese students. This is a cross sectional study which included 301 medical students in Riyadh. An online pretested and validated questionnaire was distributed among medical students. The collected data included weight, height, family background, lifestyle, and past medical and surgical history. Our results demonstrated that the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and morbid obesity was 26.6%, 9.6%, and 6.3%, respectively, among medical students. Only 44.9% of them had a family history of obesity (n = 135). Upon assessment of lifestyle, we found that 58.8% of them had a good lifestyle and 41.2% had a bad lifestyle. We found that 42.5% of medical students included in this study have obesity, and 44% of students had history of obesity in their family. In the obese group, 47.6% had a bad lifestyle. There was significant relationship between obesity and lifestyle among medical students (P = 0.0004). We found that 83.1% of students never thought of undergoing bariatric surgery, 10% of them had thought of undergoing it, and 7% of the students had undergone bariatric surgery. the prevalence of obesity is less among medical student in comparison to other subgroups. The educational level and environmental factors play an important role in the prevalence of obesity.

The Relationship Between Motivation and Academic Performance Among Medical Students in Riyadh.

Motivation is the process whereby goal-directed activities are initiated and sustained. Motivation is a crucial factor in academic achievement. The study aims to measure students' demographic factors and external environments' effect on their motivation and determine the impact of students' motivation and self-efficacy on their learning engagement and academic performance. This is a cross-sectional study that involved distributing an online digital questionnaire, which was applied in the capital of Saudi Arabia, "Riyadh." The students' motivation was assessed using three scales that are designed to measure the students' intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and learning engagement. In this study, we collected 429 responses from our distributed questionnaire among medical students where males represented 60.1% of the sample. Moreover, we classified the satisfaction level into five subcategories: very satisfied, satisfied, neutral, unsatisfied, and very unsatisfied. We found that most of the students (38.7%) were satisfied with their academic performance, while 17.7% were strongly satisfied. The mean enrollment motivation score in this study was 19.83 (SD 2.69), and when determining its subcategories, we found that the mean intrinsic motivation score was 10.33 (out of 12) and the mean extrinsic motivation score was 10.23 (out of 12). Moreover, the mean self-efficacy score was 9.61 and the mean learning engagement score was 8.97 (out of 12). Moreover, we found that a longer duration needed by the students to reach the college from their residence is significantly associated with lower learning engagement reported by the students (8.54 vs. 9.13 in shorter times, P=0.034). Finally, we found that students who entered medical school as their first choice had significantly higher intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, and learning engagement. A student's preference for entering medical school will affect their motivation, self-efficacy, and learning engagement. Moreover, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations significantly correlate with self-efficacy and satisfaction with academic performance; however, they have no effect on the grade point average (GPA) of the last semester. The only factor that positively correlates with students' GPA is learning engagement.

Assessment of Barriers to Knowledge Sharing Among Medical Students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background Knowledge sharing is a process by which information is exchanged between peers, colleagues, or, at a higher level, between institutions and organizations. This study aimed to assess the barriers to knowledge sharing among medical students at private and public-sector medical colleges in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methodology An online questionnaire was used to collect data from four medical colleges. Students were selected by non-probability convenience sampling. The English-language questionnaire included 12 questions related to knowledge sharing based on a Likert scale of one to five, with one denoting strongly disagreeing and five strongly agreeing. Out of the 520 questionnaires, 497 (96%) were received and analyzed using SPSS version 23 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). Results A total of 497 respondents completed our questionnaire. Most were males (67.8%). Our results revealed that statements such as "afraid to provide the wrong information," "people only share with those who share with them," and "too busy/lack of time" were the most perceived barriers to knowledge sharing (mean = 3.95, 3.61, and 3.60, respectively). Furthermore, female opinions on statements such as "lack of relationship," "afraid to provide the wrong information," "do not know what to share," and "shyness to provide own opinions" were more dominant than male opinions. This difference was found to be statistically significant (p-values = 0.007, 0.020, 0.002, and 0.009, respectively). Conclusions Our study indicated that barriers such as "afraid to provide the wrong information" and "people only share with those who share with them" are important barriers that hinder the process of knowledge sharing. Moreover, most students agreed that "too busy/lack of time" and "lack of relationship" are barriers to knowledge sharing. In addition, statements such as "lack of relationship," "afraid to provide the wrong information," "do not know what to share," and "shyness to provide own opinions" were acknowledged as barriers by female students more than male students. There is a need in the curriculum to structure various types of activities that inspire and promote knowledge exchange among students. Further research is needed to validate our findings.

Assessing the Risk and Awareness of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Among Medical Students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background Metabolic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus (DM), are increasingly becoming a global problem. Apart from clinical judgment, it is necessary to have reliable, inexpensive, and non-invasive tools to assess the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), as the disease can be diagnosed years after its onset, with irreversible complications. Methodology This is an observational cross-sectional study conducted at the College of Medicine, King Saud University, located in the capital city of Saudi Arabia. Data was collected through a questionnaire administered to medical students who voluntarily agreed to participate. The risk of T2DM was assessed using the American Diabetes Association diabetes risk test. The collected data was coded, entered into the Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS; IBM Inc., Armonk, New York), and subsequently analyzed. Results A total of 417 participants were included in our study, with a mean age of 20 ± 2.03 years and a mean body mass index (BMI) of 24.2 ± 5.3. The mean DM risk score was 1.83 ± 1.32 out of a total of 11. Of all the participants, 98.8% had a low-risk score for T2DM, while only 1.2% were identified as having a higher risk of developing T2DM. Approximately 77% of the participants had checked their weight and calculated their BMI in the last year. Among the participants, 98.1% identified obesity as a risk factor for T2DM, 57.8% reported smoking as a risk factor, 96.4% recognized a family history of DM as a risk factor, 80.8% identified a history of gestational DM as a risk factor, and 53.7% reported hypertension as a risk factor for T2DM. Conclusions Most of the study participants demonstrated a good knowledge level and awareness regarding T2DM, with only 1.2% found to be at an increased risk of developing the disease. Our analysis did not identify any significant association between having a high or low-risk score for T2DM and having a high or low awareness level of the disease.

Medical students’ syndrome among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Medical students’ syndrome (MSS) refers to health complaints resulting from medical expertise rather than genuine pathology. It is a hypochondriasis or illness anxiety disorder in medical students that occurs while studying a medical condition whena medical student repeatedly develops fears and symptoms of illness relating to the diseases that they are looking at at the time, and as a consequence, it affects their performance. Objective: To assess the prevalence of medical students’ syndrome and measure the impact of the syndrome on the GPA among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Method: The current cross-sectional study was conducted over six months on Riyadh’s medical students. Data was collected by using an online self-reported questionnaire. The questionnaire included two sections; the sociodemographic and mental health sections. MSD-5 and HAI-18 tools were used to assess mental health and the medical students’ syndrome. Results: Four hundred and thirteen (413) medical students completed the study questionnaire. About half (50.8 %) were female, and 96.6 % were single. According to the Medical Students’ Disease Distress scale (MSD-5), 88.9 % of the students had at least one mental health disorder. Anxiety was the major mental disorder found in 83.9 % of the medical students, followed by depression (73.6 %). According to the Health Anxiety Inventory tool (HAI-18) short-tool, the prevalence of medical students’ syndrome (MSS) among medical students was 22.3 %. Marital status is a significant factor affecting the prevalence of MSS; being married significantly increases MSS among medical students (53.8 % vs. 21.3 %, P=0.018). There is a significant negative correlation between the score of HAI-18 and the student’s Grade Point Average (GPA) (r=-0.111, P=0.024). Conclusion: Medical students are more vulnerable to mental conditions like medical students’ syndrome, which has negatively impacted their academic achievement. Since students face stress and pressure in their college life, medical students’ mental and psychological health should be the top priority to overcome and prevent the occurrence of MSS among students. Key words: medical student syndrome, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Assessment of Knowledge about Nuclear Radiation, and Awareness of Radiation Protection among Medical Students in Riyadh Universities, Saudi Arabia

Background and Aims: Nuclear medicine is considered one of the main medical specialties exposing practitioners to high radiation doses. Therefore, the assessment of knowledge about protection measures is imperative to ensure the safety. The aim of the study is to assess knowledge among medical students about nuclear radiation at Riyadh universities, Saudi Arabia. Methods: We conducted cross-sectional as an online survey which assesses knowledge about nuclear radiation safety and radiation protection awareness. We distributed it to medical students in Riyadh’s governmental universities. Results: A total of 584 responses were collected. The participants represented four universities in Riyadh, and 64.9% of them were in clinical years. The study found that 16.1% had adequate knowledge and awareness toward nuclear radiation. Moreover, 44.7% had moderate knowledge while 39.2% had inadequate knowledge. Limitations include the lack of knowledge about personal monitoring devices (81.5%), how to use them (70.7%) and dose limits (51.5%). Furthermore, 74.1% of interns showed adequate awareness, when compared to clinical and preclinical students, who had figures of 16.3% and 8.1% respectively. 70.8% preferred obtaining information from medical websites, while 44.7% opted E-learning. Moreover, it emerged that King Saud University students had the highest level of awareness while Imam Mohammed bin Saud University students showed the lowest. Conclusions: The study revealed that the level of awareness among medical students about nuclear radiation protection is low. This stems from the lack of knowledge about personal monitoring devices with regards to safety and how best to use them.

Prevalence of Computer Vision Syndrome among undergraduate medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A multi-university cross-sectional study

Background: Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is a group of eye and vision-related symptoms resulting from prolonged and extensive use of electronic devices. Such symptoms include blurry vision, dry eyes, watery eyes, headaches, fatigue, and neck pain. This study aimed to measure the prevalence of CVS and the frequency of exercising ergonomic practices among undergraduate medical students attending several medical colleges in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study surveyed 1,014 undergraduate medical students from several medical colleges in Riyadh. Data collection was held for four weeks throughout July-August 2021. Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics Version 21. CVS-Q manual was implemented as the scoring system. Results: Out of the total surveyed medical students, 85.5% reported using electronic devices for educational purposes. Neck pains (42.5%), headaches (39.4%), and eye dryness (38.6%) were the most frequent symptoms. 60.8% of students were found CVS-positive. Male students were significantly less predicted to have CVS than female students (P&lt;0.001). Brightness levels of screens correlated substantially with the risk of CVS (P=0.035) as more students who used bright backlight were found CVS-positive compared to those who did not. Conclusion: CVS and its associated symptoms were relatively common among medical students. Future studies are necessary to measure CVS across larger samples. Further awareness and routine ophthalmic assessments are imperative to mitigate this issue and promote ocular health. Keywords: Computer Vision Syndrome, Medical Students, Saudi Arabia, Electronic Devices.

Acne vulgaris knowledge among Al-Maarefa University medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: The most prevalent skin condition, acne vulgaris (AV), affects 9.4% of the world&amp;apos;s population, with teens having the highest frequency. Cultural, ethnic, and social factors appear to significantly impact patients&amp;apos; perceptions of their acne and how their awareness influences these perceptions. This study aimed at evaluating the attitudes and knowledge of medical students regarding AV at Almaarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted, and the targeting group of male and female students attending Almaarefa University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in December 2021. We evaluated their thoughts and beliefs regarding AV using the paper questionnaire to assess their understanding of the condition. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences was used to examine the data. Results: A questionnaire about knowledge of AV was administered to 300 students in total. According to the findings, female respondents made up 60% of the sample, while male respondents made up 40%. According to the results, only 4% of the sample is knowledgeable about AV. The knowledge of AV was only adequately understood by 5.6% of female medical students, and the rest, 94.4%, had insufficient knowledge of the subject. Conclusion: Our findings revealed that, despite the excepted high level of education and awareness among medical students, less than 5% of people had enough knowledge of AV, despite this not being a typical thought from them. Based on our findings, we recommend educating toddlers and their parents about AV.

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the prevalence of computer vision syndrome among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

PurposeTo estimate the prevalence of computer vision syndrome (CVS) among university medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, after establishing remote learning during COVID-19 pandemic and to compare settings of electronic device usage and patterns of CVS protective measures applied by students before and during this pandemic.MethodsThis is an observational descriptive cross-sectional study which included 1st to 5th year medical students who were actively enrolled at the governmental colleges of medicine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during the COVID-19 lockdown. The sample size was estimated to be 287 medical students. Participants were asked to volunteer and fill an electronic online questionnaire.ResultsA total of 300 medical students were included in this study. 94.0% reported at least one symptom of CVS, while 67% reported having more than three symptoms. The most frequently reported symptoms were musculoskeletal pain (84.3%), headache (71.1%) and dry eyes (68%). Thirty-eight percent of the students experienced more severe symptoms, while 48% experienced more frequent symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Risk factors for having three or more symptoms were being a female (p < 0.001) and using electronic devices for longer periods (6.8 h ± 2.8) during COVID-19 lockdown (p < 0.001).ConclusionCVS prevalence during COVID-19 era among medical students is high. This necessitates increasing the awareness of CVS and its preventive measures.

Medical and nonmedical use of psychiatric medications among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Introduction:Psychiatric medication use has increased recently among college students. This includes antidepressants, opioids, stimulants, analgesics, sedatives, and anxiolytics, which could be self-administered without medical supervision.Objectives:To determine the prevalence of medical and nonmedical use of psychiatric prescription medications and its correlation with academic performance, demographic data as well as the motives for the nonmedical use.Methods:A cross-sectional study aims to assess the psychiatric medication use with or without prescription with the motives behind it, and demographic data of the students at medical colleges in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Results:A total of 1268 responded to the questionnaire. 251 (20%) of the participants reported using some psychiatric medications in their lifetime, while 191 (15%) participants used some psychiatric medications in the last 12 months. Antidepressants were most used in the surveyed population 144 (57%), followed by opioids/pain relief medications 62 (24%) and anxiolytics 39 (15%). Only 44 surveyed students (3.5%) reported nonmedical use of these psychiatric medications. As for the motives of nonmedical use, the greatest portion reported to use it for “relax or relieve tension” 12 (29%), followed by “relieve pain caused by other health problems” 8 (20%), and “medication to get through the day” 6 (15%).Conclusion:Nonmedical use of psychiatric medications among medical students in Riyadh is several times lower than reports by other researchers. Future research should focus on collecting more participants who are using medications without prescription and conduct cross-cultural studies to examine factors contributing to such low rates of illicit psychiatric medication use.

Student as a Clinical Teacher: Evaluation of Peer Teaching Experience in Clinical Education

Background: peer teaching is considered one of the best methods of active learning strategies. The study aims to evaluate the perception of their peer-teaching experience, assessing their satisfaction with the quality and efficacy of the process. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed using anonymous self-administered online questionnaires. The study aimed at medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, who have been enrolled in the peer teaching process at least once. Results: of the 188 medical students who completed the study questionnaire, 77.1% were male. About half of them (48%) reported participating in at least one or more peer teaching sessions discussing medical contexts. More than half (55.3%) had indicated that they preferred a peer student to learn from an informal educational session. About two-thirds (75%) of the students thought they would possibly conduct future peer-assisted clinical teaching sessions if needed. The top three benefits of peer teaching from the student's point of view were; 1. peer-assisted clinical education enhances clinical skills and knowledge retention, 2. Has a positive impact on the performance of clinical exams; 3. helped to apply clinical skills during regular curricular clinical courses. Conclusions: the study confirmed that peer education is an effective learning method in the clinical phase. Medical colleges should provide the appropriate environment that encourages senior students to teach their peers. Junior students and students of one batch should teach each other and try to be active teachers and learners alike.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on career perceptions among medical students in (IMSIU)

Background and aim: COVID-19 pandemic has impacted daily activities due to restrictions regarding social distancing. We aim to investigate the effect of withholding clinical rotations and elective rotations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on career perceptions among medical students in Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University (IMSIU). Design: A cross-sectional study aimed at IMSIU medical students in Riyadh. A questionnaire was distributed in April 2021 through WhatsApp to randomly select medical students from all years except preparatory-year students. Results: We collected 301 responses. 41.9% reported not starting any clinical rotations, and 38.5% indicated finishing some clinical rotations. Of the total students surveyed, 49.5% indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced their choice of specialty; 48.6% felt that they had discovered new interests, which affected their consideration. In comparison, 40.5 % believed that COVID -19 had limited their ability to explore their considered specialty. A total of 63.1% students were concerned about fulfilling their graduation requirements in a timely manner, and 15.9% thought that they would need an additional year in medical school before applying to residency because of COVID-19. Conclusion: It was found that most of the students did not complete their clinical rotations or electives. Moreover, we found that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced students’ perceptions about their specialty choices after graduation. Most of the students surveyed said their intentions had changed from pursuing specialties that required direct contact with patients to those that did not. Key words: Medical students, COVID 19, career choice, Residency programs

Post-traumatic stress disorder following COVID-19 pandemic among medical students in Riyadh: a cross-sectional study

BackgroundIn recent times, COVID-19 has been recognized as a public health emergency and thus far, most papers published on it are focused only on the clinical characteristics of infected patients. This pandemic has also made phenomenal emotional impact among the young and the old. We aimed to find out the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological well-being of medical students in a University at Riyadh.ResultsThere were 309 participants in the study. Out of them 44% did not have PTSD, 29% had score more than 37 which might contribute to immune suppression, in 18.4% PTSD was a clinical concern and 8.6% had probable PTSD. Female participants were the majority in the group and they also had higher chance of having consequences than the male counterparts (P < 0.001). Avoidance score between male and female gender was significantly different.ConclusionCOVID-19 pandemic has not just affected the physiological functioning of the affected individuals but also has had a probable post-traumatic stress disorder among young college students. Screening for psychological well-being and the treatment for PTSD is imperative in college, school and general population.

Attitudes of Medical Students Toward Statistics in Medical Research: Evidence From Saudi Arabia

Today, most medical research depends on statistics, and interpreting these is crucial as the world tries to improve health outcomes. Medical students are at the front line in this effort but many have negative attitudes toward statistics. To assess this and offer recommendations, this study evaluates the attitudes of medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, toward statistics in medical research. The factors of sex, age, and program year are analyzed. In total, 327 medical students completed the Attitudes Toward Statistics in Medical Research survey. The results show that students somewhat appreciate the value of statistics in their professional careers but have negative to neutral feelings toward statistics, their own intellectual knowledge and skills in statistics, and the difficulty of the subject. Males show more positive attitudes than females, while students 23 or older perceive statistics as more difficult, and have more negative feelings toward statistics than younger students. No effect is found for the program year. To address this situation, medical educators should design courses in medical statistics that stimulate student understanding in this field, emphasizing its importance. Innovative methods of delivering course material should be explored to improve students’ sense of competency. Supplementary materials for this article are available online.

Level of awareness and knowledge of osteoporosis among medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

Background: With the increased prevalence of osteoporosis, proficiency in knowledge of osteoporosis is essential for healthcare providers to prevent and treat this disease. Therefore, it is crucial for future physicians to receive adequate education. Our study aimed to assess osteoporosis awareness and knowledge among medical students training to become physicians. Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study conducted among a sample of medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study included students from the following universities: Imam Mohammad ibn Saud Islamic University, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Saud University, and Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University during the 2019-2020 academic year. We utilized the revised Osteoporosis Knowledge Test questionnaire, which was administered online. Results: A total of 805 participants completed the online questionnaire (52% male and 48% female). The majority of the students had a grade point average of 4.50 (46.1%). Of a total score of 32 points, the mean knowledge score of the study population was 16.6 ± 4.4 points. The mean exercise score of the study population was 10.7 ± 3.1 points out of 20 points. The mean nutrition score was 14 ± 3.6 points out of 26 points. Conclusions: The level of knowledge of medical students regarding osteoporosis is poor. The need for better education of future physicians in Saudi Arabia regarding osteoporosis must be addressed. The introduction of problem-based learning strategies and community-oriented teaching programs may facilitate greater awareness of the public health impact of osteoporosis.

Prevalence of myopia and its association with electronic devices among university students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background: Myopia is the most common refractive error worldwide and is a growing global burden. Although myopia is a well-recognized problem, it has not been extensively studied in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of myopia and assess the association between e-reading and myopia. Methodology: This cross-sectional study included data collected from 571 male medical students in Riyadh between February 2019 and May 2019. The participants were categorized into three groups using stratified random cluster sampling: 187, 194, and 190 students from the fifth, third, and first years, respectively. The prevalence of myopia was self-reported through a questionnaire that also included details regarding the pattern of electronic device use. Statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences to determine the prevalence with 95% confidence level. Results: Among the 291 medical students who responded, 117 (40%) had myopia (95% confidence interval = 33.4%-48.0%), of whom 70% were diagnosed before attending the university. When comparing between myopic and non-myopic students with respect to electronic device usage, no significant difference was found (p = 0.28). However, a significant difference was found between the groups in terms of laptop utilization compared to other types of electronic devices, such as smartphones and tablets (p = 0.03). Conclusions: The prevalence of myopia among university medical students was 40%. A significant difference was found between myopic and non-myopic students regarding laptop use compared with other types of electronic devices.

Knowledge, awareness, and vaccination compliance of hepatitis B among medical students in Riyadh's governmental universities.

Background:Hepatitis B is a blood-borne infectious liver disease caused by the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and it is best prevented by immunization. Due to occupational exposure, medical students have an increased risk of contracting HBV. Therefore, it is essential for all medical students to have good knowledge about HBV and to complete their HBV vaccinations.Aims:The aim of this study was to assess and compare HBV knowledge, awareness, and vaccination compliance among pre-clinical medical students in four universities.Settings and Design:A cross-sectional study was conducted in September 2018 at the College of Medicine of four governmental universities: King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Saud University, Princess Noura university, and Imam Mohammed bin Saud Islamic University, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.Methods and Materials:Two-hundred-sixty-three pre-clinical medical students completed a questionnaire with sections about demographics, HBV awareness, knowledge, and vaccination compliance.Statistical analysis used:The data was transferred to Excel and SPSS version 22 was used for statistical analysis. A significance level of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results:The overall knowledge about HBV and vaccination compliance were poor. KSU students had the highest vaccination compliance (n = 52, 54.2%) and KSAU-HS the lowest (n = 19, 23,8%). The most-cited reasons for noncompliance were “forgetting about the vaccine” and “busy schedule“.Conclusion:Overall, most of the participants had poor HBV knowledge and vaccine compliance. Therefore, we recommend the implementation of pre-clinical vaccine checking and the addition of an infectious disease awareness and prevention program.

Level of awareness of Saudi medical students of the internet-based health-related information seeking and developing to support health services

BackgroundMany studies are available in the literature about e-health in Saudi Arabia, however, data is limited to a few organizations and does not necessarily reflect the current and potential use of e-health for health care organizations in the country. This study aimed to determine the level of awareness of Saudi medical students of the internet-based health-related information seeking and developing to support health services and significant predictors of their practice.MethodsA cross-sectional survey of 440 medical students in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was conducted, during October/November 2019, using a previously validated questionnaire, to assess: (1) knowledge in three domains; e-health definition (13 statements), fields of application of e-health (8 statements), methods of using e-health (7 statements), (2) attitude toward using e-health (8 statements) and (3) reported practice of e-health in medical training (5 statements). A scoring system was used to calculate the total and percentage score of knowledge, attitude, and practice for each student. Multiple regression analysis was applied to identify predictors of e-health practice. Significance was considered at p < 0.05.ResultsOf 440 medical students, the majority were females (55.7%) and from families whose monthly income was more than 10,000SR (82.8%). Overall knowledge about e-health was unsatisfactory (percentage mean score, PMS = 71.6%), with only 43.6% of students reporting a satisfactory level. However, this level was satisfactory for fields of application (Percentage mean score-PMS = 76.6%) and unsatisfactory for the definition of e-health (PMS = 70.7%) and methods of its use (PMS = 65.7%) domains. The overall attitude towards e-health use was positive (PMS = 82.3%), with nearly three-quarters of students (73.4%) reporting a positive attitude. Generally, a good level of practice of e-health was reported by students (PMS = 84.3%), with more than three-quarters of students (78.4%) reporting good practice. Adjusting for age, gender, stream, educational grade, and family monthly income, good practice was significantly predicted with higher knowledge (t = 2.22, p = 0.03) and attitude (t = 2.11, p = 0.04) scores.ConclusionThis study provides basic information regarding medical students’ level of awareness of internet-based health-related information seeking and developing to support health services. More resources should be directed to elevate medical students’ knowledge and to motivate them to practice e-health using the available tools.