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Background: Adolescence is a critical, multifactorial developmental phase. With the current pandemic of COVID-19, excessive using of electronic devices is a public health concern. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between depression and the use of electronic devices among secondary school children in Jazan, Saudi Arabia during the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and Methods: The study is an observational, cross-sectional study. Data was collected using an anonymous online survey instrument. including the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. Results: A total of 427 participants were included in the study. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and stress in our study was 14.55%, 12.01%, and 15.55%, respectively. For the hours spent on electronic devices, 13.6% of participants spent 1-4 h, 43.6% spent 5-9 h, and 42.9% spent 10 h or more. 86.7% reported an increase in their use of electronic devices during COVID-19. The regression analysis revealed that the increase of Videogame Addiction Scale for Children is significantly associated with an increase in Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scores (p-value < 0.05 for all). Conclusion: Electronic device use is a challenging issue among Saudi adolescents, and it has been associated with a negative impact on participants' mental well-being. The study found a positive correlation between electronic device use and increased prevalence of mental health issues. We also found significantly increased use of electronic device during the COVID-19 lockdown; hence, more mental issues were reported. It is obvious that electronic device use needs to be more controlled among adolescents. This can be achieved by involving those who are in this age group in other activities, like sports, which can reduce the time they spend on electronic device. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Home care of under-five children is one of the most important interventions in the control of diarrheal diseases. It has a significant impact in reducing childhood mortality and morbidity. Objective: This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of health education on home care of under- five children with diarrheal disease. Materials and Methods: This is a quasi- experimental study, held in Al Maki neighborhood, which is located in Greater Wad Medani locality, Gezira State, Central Sudan. The study targeted a random sample of 118 mothers who have at least one child under- five years of age with diarrhea needing home management. The study was conducted in three phases. Phase one was a base line survey for the mothers. Intervention phase including different health education approaches, home visits, group sessions and distribution of mother cards through community volunteers and researchers. Post intervention survey using the same pre-intervention questionnaire, and observation of mothers managing their children. Results: Results showed that knowledge of mothers about definition of diarrhea, its danger, when to seek medical help and the three rules of home management which was found to be 35,28,13 and 29% improved significantly after intervention to 91, 94,92 and 93% respectively with a very high significant level. Recommendations: We recommended that volunteers are effective health education provider especially on household based intervention. Health services should support the community based interventions to reinforce the knowledge and practices of mother towards the sick children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Refractive errors (REs) are common and continue to increase globally, particularly myopia. Uncorrected REs are the second leading cause of preventable blindness and the most common cause of visual impairment. The main objective of this study is to assess the prevalence of REs and to investigate its associated risk factors among medical students of the Jazan region, Saudi Arabia., Methods: An observational analytical cross-sectional study was conducted among a random sample of 447 medical students at Jazan University. Eye examination was conducted using an autorefractor test (Huvitz HRK-8000A Autorefractor Keratometer) to measure spherical refraction (emmetropia, myopia, and hyperopia) and cylindrical refraction (astigmatism). Factors associated with myopia and hyperopia were evaluated using logistic regression models., Results: The overall prevalence of REs was 48.8% (95% confidence interval [CI] [44.2, 53.4]). The prevalence of REs among female medical students was 55.1% (95% CI [48.6, 61.5]), which was significantly higher than that among males (42.3%, 95% CI [36.0, 48.9]), with a P = 0.007. Of the 447 medical students examined, approximately one-third (33.8%) had myopia, 10.5% had astigmatism, and only 10.5% had hyperopia. The results of logistic regression indicated that females were 52% more myopic than males (odds ratios [OR] = 1.52, 95% CI [1.04, 2.22]), while participants with both parents having a history of REs were twofold more myopic than students with no family history of REs (OR = 2.01, 95% CI [1.2, 3.4]). A history of blurred vision also increases the risk of myopia by seven times (OR = 7.2, 95% CI [6.4, 11.3])., Conclusion: RE among medical students is a problem. Thus, it needs to be assessed carefully before students choose a specialty that may need very good near and far vision for postgraduate study., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Middle East African Journal of Ophthalmology.)

Background: Internship training offers an important opportunity for personal development and career planning. However, there are many factors affecting the efficiency of training, and the views of interns are rarely considered. The main objective of this study was to explore the views of interns enrolled in Jazan University internship program during the year 2015., Subjects and Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the Jazan region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, during the academic year 2015. To achieve the study goals, an online questionnaire was distributed to all interns (n=85) enrolled in the Jazan University internship program., Results: Results revealed that satisfaction with training was more evident in general surgery and pediatrics (76.1%, n=54 and 77.5%, n=55, respectively). Satisfaction was lowest for obstetrics and gynecology programs (45.1%, n=32), while in internal medicine it was 54.9% (n=39). Training in general surgery and pediatrics was rated as excellent by most of the interns (45.8% and 43.1%, respectively). The picture is reversed in obstetrics and gynecology, as 43.1% rated it as average. More than half of the study sample felt that they were well prepared to start the next step in their career at the end of internship (50.7%), while 25.4% felt that they were moderately prepared., Conclusion: It is clear that training quality in views of interns is variable across the major specialties, and there are some problems in obstetrics and gynecology training. More studies are needed to explore in-depth dimensions of internship training program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia., Competing Interests: Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.