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Objective: To assess patient satisfaction and expectations from the family medicine department at a newly established public sector hospital in Riyadh. Methodology: A cross sectional study. Pre tested, pre designed, well structured questionnaire written in English with Arabic translation was administered to randomly selected volunteer patients, who presented to family medicine clinics of a tertiary care hospital from February to March 2014. A total of 148 anonymously completed questionnaires were returned to the investigator. Data were analyzed using SPSS-21 and the results expressed as counts and percentages. Results: The overall level of patient satisfaction on a Likert scale from 1 to 5 was indicated by a mean score of 3.84 ± 1.27 for pre-consultation process and 4.63 ± 0.75 for process of consultation by family physicians. The highest satisfaction was with family physicians who clearly explained what is wrong before giving any treatment (4.72 mean points) and the lowest for availability of reading material in the waiting room (2.93 mean points). Conclusion: Consultation by family physicians followed by nursing services were highly satisfactory whereas the satisfaction score and written comments of some of the participants reflected a need to improve some infrastructure and administrative aspects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To correlate the respiratory function among normal weight (BMI > 18.5 – 24.9 Kg/ m²), overweight (BMI > 25 – 29.9 Kg/m²) and obese (BMI > 30 Kg/m²) male medical students who did not have evidence of obstructive or restrictive airway disease or other underlying diseases affecting their respiratory system. The other objective was to assess the correlation of respiratory function & body mass index (BMI). Methodology: Cross sectional controlled study was conducted among 113 eligible male medical students at college of medicine, King Saud University Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during August 2009 – July 2010. Body mass index was used to assess the obesity and forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) were used to assess respiratory function. One way ANOVA was used to find the difference between BMI groups and bivariate correlation analysis was done to find out the strength of the relationship among BMI and respiratory function parameters. Results: FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC ratio were linearly and mildly inversely related with BMI in overweight (r = -0.338, -0.291, -0.311 respectively) and obese (r = 0.375, -0.349, -0.040 respectively). In normal weight subjects, FEV1 and FVC were mildly positively correlated (r = 0.136 and 0.219 respectively) and FEV1/FVC ratio was negatively correlated (r = -0.166) with BMI. Conclusion: Overweight and obesity are associated with pulmonary dysfunction among young male population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To compare the days and spells of sickness absence among males versus females and Saudi nationals versus expatriate employees of King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, and to identify the cause of sickness absence., Methods: The cross-sectional, descriptive study comprised 3117 King Khalid University Hospital employees. Records of physician-certified sickness absence from January 1 to June 30, 2009, were obtained from the employee health clinic's register. Absence rate, frequency, duration and severity were assessed and compared between genders and nationalities, and causes were noted. SPSS version 16 and student's t test were used for statistical analyses and comparison., Result: A total of 377 (12.1 %) employees had 416 spells of sickness absence with 639 sick-off days (mean: 1.54 +/- 0.85). The probability of sickness absence was higher among Saudi (OR=1.33) and female (OR=1.39) employees. The association of sickness absence was not found among the absentees with either gender (p= 0.335) or nationality (p = 0.086). Almost all spells of sick-off days were of short duration. Longer spells were mainly due to chicken pox which was found to be more among the expatriates. Heavy absenteeism was found only among the Saudis. The most common causes of sickness absence were acute upper respiratory infection, diseases of musculoskeletal system and the digestive system., Conclusion: The rate, frequency and duration of absence due to sickness in the study were higher among Saudi and female employees. The rate of absence, with passage of time, has increased significantly among Saudi nationals.

Hepatitis B virus is a crucial public health problem in Pakistan. It has been classified into eight genotypes (A-H) based on genome sequence divergence. Hepatitis B virus genotypes have distinct geographical distributions. Recently genotypes of hepatitis B have received a lot of attention due to its clinical as well as therapeutic importance. In this review, we will discuss the epidemiology, clinical outcome and response to antiviral therapy for different hepatitis B virus genotypes.