Ajiad Alhazmi

Individuals with disabilities face significant barriers to healthcare. Despite Vision 2030 goals, research regarding accessibility for those with physical, visual, or hearing impairments remains limited. This scoping review examines healthcare access for individuals with permanent impairments who can make independent healthcare decisions. A systematic search was conducted across PubMed, Embase, Scopus, Web of Science, and PsycInfo from their inception until December 2024, identifying 16 observational studies that met inclusion criteria: English-language, Saudi-based studies reporting healthcare access for individuals with physical, visual, or auditory impairments. Exclusion criteria included reviews, qualitative, experimental designs, or inclusion of multiple disabilities without stratification in the analysis. Most were cross-sectional and focused on physical (31.3%), visual (31.3%), and hearing (37.5%) impairments. Primary-care barriers included structural barriers, limited personnel training, and non-inclusive programs. Secondary care barriers centered on referral gaps, limited personnel experience, higher costs, and lack of centered care. Tertiary-care barriers included long waits, poor care coordination, dissatisfaction with prostheses, and absence of specialized services in the Eastern Province. To enhance healthcare equity, national accessibility standards, mandatory provider training, specialized communication systems, expanded telehealth, and regular accessibility audits are recommended. Future research should explore interventions and use longitudinal designs.

Background/Objectives: Timely initiation of antenatal care (ANC) services is crucial for ensuring maternal and fetal well-being. Despite the importance of ANC, research regarding its initiation remains limited in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia, an area with notable adverse birth outcomes. Therefore, this study aimed to assess pregnant women’s initiation of ANC and identify associated factors and significant barriers for timely initiation. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 369 Saudi pregnant women in their third trimester attending ANC clinics in the Jazan region in 2024. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Andersen’s behavioral model of healthcare utilization provided the framework for the study. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Results: The majority of women (78.9%) initiated ANC in the first trimester. Higher maternal education was positively associated with early ANC initiation (aOR = 2.369, 95% CI: 1.154–4.901), whereas higher paternal education was negatively associated with early ANC initiation (aOR = 0.350, 95% CI: 0.175–0.699). When modeled independently, the positive association of higher maternal education was attenuated but was not significant, while the negative association of higher husband’s education remained the same. Those living more than three km from health facilities (aOR = 0.510, 95% CI: 0.276–0.941) and seeking care for reasons other than routine follow-up were less likely to initiate ANC early. Most women received essential services, but only 37.1% had ultrasound tests. Conclusions: While ANC initiation in Jazan showed promising trends, factors like geographical accessibility remain a significant barrier. Targeted interventions should address these identified barriers, which fall within predisposing, enabling, need, and external environmental factors. Further investigations of pregnant women’s familial decision-making and low ultrasound test utilization in relation to ANC are recommended.

Objective To determine the prevalence of piriformis syndrome (PS) among undergraduate university health sciences students aged 18 to 25 and assess the significant predictors of PS regardless of its type and severe PS in particular. Design A cross-sectional study. Setting The study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital of a public university in Pakistan from December 2023 to May 2024. Participants A total of 190 subjects enrolled in the study who met the eligibility criteria, which included being an undergraduate health sciences student (medical and allied health specialities), aged 18 up to 25 years, and willing to participate in the study. Participants were selected using multistage random sampling. Primary and secondary outcome measures The prevalence of PS in addition to associated risk factors as a primary outcome measures. Secondary outcome measures included the severity of PS. Results Of the total, 119 (62.6%) were female, 114 (60.0%) were between 22 and 25 years old, and 125 (65.8%) had standard body mass index. The prevalence of PS was (61.1%), whereas half suffered from severe PS, and the remaining half had mild and moderate PS. We found that factors such as casual sitting positions, sitting duration and International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) score (physical activity) were associated with odds of PS in the crude and adjusted regression analyses. When stratified by severity of PS, factors such as writing positions, casual sitting positions, sitting duration and IPAQ score (physical activity) were associated with odds of severe PS in the crude and adjusted regression analyses. Conclusions Students have a high prevalence of PS, with an increased likelihood of buttock pain associated with prolonged sitting, poor posture and physical inactivity. Future research that includes several factors related to students’ social and psychological backgrounds is required.

Background: Food poisoning is a significant global public health issue caused by consuming contaminated food. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding food safety are essential in reducing food-borne diseases. Objectives: This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices levels related to food poisoning among health sciences students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to May 2023, surveying students from the Health Sciences Colleges at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. An online structured questionnaire was distributed through convenience sampling. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and logistic regression analysis were utilized. Results: Of the 224 students, predominantly female (60.3%) and aged 20-21 (42.4%). Over half (59.4%) had good knowledge of food poisoning, 64.7% showed a positive attitude, and 75.4% demonstrated good practices. Significant associations were found between demographic characteristics: gender (p = 0.008), age (p = 0.001), and marital status (p = 0.037) and attitudes towards food poisoning, with females being 3.07 times more likely to have a good attitude than males. Conclusion: KAP levels were generally positive but varied by demographics. KAP promotion campaigns are recommended to enhance awareness among students and the community. Keywords: knowledge; attitudes; practices; food poisoning; Saudi Arabia.

Background: Food poisoning is a significant global public health issue caused by consuming contaminated food. Knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding food safety are essential in reducing food-borne diseases. Objectives: This study aimed to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices levels related to food poisoning among health sciences students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from January to May 2023, surveying students from the Health Sciences Colleges at Imam Abdulrahman bin Faisal University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. An online structured questionnaire was distributed through convenience sampling. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, and logistic regression analysis were utilized. Results: Of the 224 students, predominantly female (60.3%) and aged 20-21 (42.4%). Over half (59.4%) had good knowledge of food poisoning, 64.7% showed a positive attitude, and 75.4% demonstrated good practices. Significant associations were found between demographic characteristics: gender (p = 0.008), age (p = 0.001), and marital status (p = 0.037) and attitudes towards food poisoning, with females being 3.07 times more likely to have a good attitude than males. Conclusion: KAP levels were generally positive but varied by demographics. KAP promotion campaigns are recommended to enhance awareness among students and the community. Keywords: knowledge; attitudes; practices; food poisoning; Saudi Arabia.

Background: Globally, hypertension is among the leading causes of premature mortality. It is a noncommunicable disease characterized by a persistent state of raised blood pressure that increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases and medical conditions affecting the brain and kidneys. There is a paucity of thorough hypertension knowledge assessment among hypertensive patients in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia. Thus, this study aimed to assess overall and specific knowledge about hypertension and to identify predictors of inadequate knowledge. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia between February and April 2023. Data were collected using an online, self-administered questionnaire divided into two sections. In the first section, the characteristics of the participants were collected. In the second section, the Hypertension Knowledge-Level Scale was used to measure overall and specific knowledge areas (subdimensions). The overall and subdimensional means were tested using Mann–Whitney U and Kruskal–Wallis H tests. Furthermore, the binary logistic regression was conducted to determine inadequate knowledge predictors. Results: In all 253 hypertensive patients were eligible for participation; almost 70% of whom were male. The mean age of the participants was 45 years (±14.7), and their mean overall knowledge score was 17.60 (±5.09), which was equivalent to 67.7% of the maximum score. In addition, 40.7% of participants had an adequate level of hypertension knowledge. The complications subdimension level of knowledge was borderline optimal. At the same time, an adequate knowledge level was detected only in the lifestyle subdimension. Conclusion: Most patients showed inadequate levels of knowledge related to hypertension management. Diet, medical treatment, disease definition, drug compliance, and complications were subsequently the least knowledgeable subdimensions among the study population. Therefore, these subdimensions should be prioritized when planning hypertension educational interventions and during follow-up sessions, especially for patients of younger age groups and those with lower educational levels.

COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and refusal vary across countries and among different socio-demographic groups. This study investigates hesitancy related to the COVID-19 vaccine and the associated factors in the rural-community-dominated Jazan Province, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study through an online questionnaire was conducted from February to April 2021 to investigate the extent of vaccine hesitancy related to the COVID-19 vaccine and the associated factors in the Jazan region. A Chi-squared test and post hoc analysis were conducted to analyze the statistical significance of the association between variables. Of the 569 participants who completed the online questionnaire, the majority were males (81.5%) and had a university education (72.6%). Of the participants, more than one-third (36.9%) were hesitant to vaccinate. Concern about adverse side effects following vaccination was the most reported reason for vaccine hesitancy (42.6%), followed by beliefs that the vaccine was unsafe or ineffective (15.5%). The data analysis revealed that people who lived in cities in Jazan Province or those who did not have a family history of COVID-19 infection were more likely to be vaccine hesitant. It is more important than ever to develop and implement community-based strategies to address vaccine hesitancy, especially in rural areas.