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Alya Alghamdi,1 Omaimah A Qadhi,2 Wajid Syed,3 Osama A Samarkandi,4 Mahmood Basil A Al-Rawi5 1Department of Community and Mental Health, College of Nursing, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Medical-Surgical College of Nursing, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Basic Sciences, Prince Sultan College for Emergency Medical Services, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11466, Saudi Arabia; 5Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Wajid Syed, Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, 11451, Saudi Arabia, Email wali@ksu.edu.saBackground and Aim: On the other hand, patient safety, is of the utmost importance, in addition to health care providers’ counseling and advice, patient information leaflets (PILs) also have a significant impact on health outcomes. This study aimed to assess the Knowledge of medicine safety and Frequency of reading medication Leaflets and their predictors among the Saudi population in Riyadh Saudi Arabia.Methods and Materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted over three months in 2023 using online structured self-administered questionnaires, on the adults of Saudi Arabia, admitted to provide informed consent, aged ≥ 18 years, able to complete the questionnaires, being Saudi nationals, and currently living in the country. The data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 27.Results: In this study, 23.6% (n=123) of respondents always read the PILs, while 14.6% (n=76) of them never read the PILs. In addition, 22.6% (n=118) of them find it difficult to understand the PILs. In this study, 53.9% of them revealed that ADRs are unexpected reactions after taking the normal dose and 15.4% of them do not know what ADRs are. The respondents gender (B= 0.164; SE=0.075; 95CI = 0.017– 0.310; p = 0.029), Social status (B = 0.251; SE = 0.079; 95CI = 0.096– 0.406; p = 0.002) and monthly income (B= 0.136; SE = 0.021; 95CI = 0.095– 0.178; p < 0.001) was the predictor of reading PILs.Conclusion: In this study, two-thirds of participants took medication and knew why they were taking it. However, only a few of them took the medicine after seeing a doctor, suggesting self-medication practice. In addition, 22.1% of them find it difficult to understand the PILS, and a small number of them would rather read it. Highlighting the significance of seeking medical advice from healthcare professionals before using a medication.Keywords: medication leaflets, package inserts, knowledge, medicine safety, adverse drug reactions, attitudes, Saudi Arabia

Adel Bashatah,1 Omaimah A Qadhi,2 Ahmed Al Sadoun,2 Wajid Syed,3 Mahmood Basil A Al-Rawi4 1Department of Nursing and Administration College of Nursing, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Medical-Surgical, College of Nursing, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 3Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Optometry, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Wajid Syed, Email Wali@ksu.edu.saBackground: Physical activity (PA) is any prolonged movement produced by muscular tissues that cause the muscles to exert force. Despite its beneficial effect, it is frequently neglected by individuals. The present study aimed to determine the PA among young adults living in Saudi Arabia.Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among Saudi adults living in the Riyadh region of Saudi Arabia from June to August 2022 through a self-administered online survey. Global Physical Activity Questionnaire was used to assess the PA among participants. The data were analyzed using statistical software SPSS v. 26.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).Results: Among the surveyed adult males were the predominant 67.8% (n= 240). Most of them were young, aged between 24 to 34 years 62.4% (n=221), and 37.6% (n=133) of them were between 35 and 44 years old. The current findings reported that 63% (n=223) of the adults had PA on weekly basis. Walking 45.2% (n=160) followed by bodybuilding 12.7% (n=45) was the most common type of PA identified among adults. The barriers identified for not practicing PA were lack of time 46.9% (n=166). With regard to a sedentary lifestyle, it was reported that 9.55 (SD= 4.887) hours per day are spent sedentary or in a constant sitting. The adults gender (p=0.046) employment (p=0.0001) and educational status (p=0.0001) was significantly associated with the type of PA engaged. Although being a female were shown more sitting behavior than males (p< 0.047), similarly the nationality of the adults (6.67; SD=1.649) (p < 0.001), education (p=0.028) and monthly household income (p =0.024) were significantly associated with the overall mean sitting behavior.Conclusion: The findings of this study confirmed that Saudi adults yet posing highly sedentary behavior and physical inactivity, despite knowing the harmful outcomes of inactivity. Thus educating individuals about the importance of PA is warranted.Keywords: walking, running, playing, football, weightlifting, sitting, sedentary behavior

Drug abuse is a rising psychological concept in many countries, and its use among individuals is increasing. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the Knowledge and demographic factors associated with drug abuse among male pharmacy and nursing students at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. This study used a cross-sectional design targeting male entry-level pharmacy and nursing students in their first and second years of Bachelor of Nursing and Doctor of Pharmacy courses. Of them, 85.3 % of the pharmacy and 75.3 % of nursing students thought that cocaine causes drug addiction, followed by heroin (pharmacy 80.7 %; nursing students 71 %), and morphine (pharmacy 75.2 %; nursing students 59.1 %). In this study, 52 % (n = 105) claimed low awareness, whereas 48 % (n = 97) indicated good understanding regarding drug addictions. Furthermore, the mean knowledge score among pharmacy students was higher (7.073 ± 2.570) in comparison to nursing (5.806 ± 2.494) ( t  = 3.540; p =  0. 0001). In addition, the father's occupation was found to be significantly associated with the mean knowledge score of drug addiction (F = 2.667; p  = 0.034). According to the findings, 52 % of male students had insufficient knowledge about drugs that cause addiction. Age, course of study, and father's occupation all had a substantial impact on knowledge scores. The knowledge score on the complications of addictive substances was not significantly associated with the characteristics of the students ( p  = 0.05). As a result, we advocate for the introduction of educational initiatives that educate students about the harmful consequences of drug addiction and how to avoid issues., Competing Interests: The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (© 2024 The Author(s).)

Background: Cancer is becoming more common, regardless of gender or type. Cancer was determined to be the leading cause of death, with lung cancer (LC) patients having the highest rate of cancer-related deaths. The purpose of this study was to analyze undergraduates' knowledge and awareness of LC early warning signs in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods : Between May and September 2022, a cross-sectional, prospective paper-based survey-type study was conducted among undergraduates (n=202) from the faculty of pharmacy and nursing at King Saud University (KSU) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The data was gathered from third and fourth-year undergraduates. The statistical package for social science (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, U.S.) was used to perform the analysis. Results: The mean age of the undergraduates was 22.47 ± 2.35(SD) years. Most of them were from nursing 54% (n=109), while 46% (n=93) belonged to a pharmacy. In terms of awareness of warning signs of lung cancer, 48.6% of the students believed that unexplained weight loss, followed by persistent chest infection (36.6%) and cough that does not go away easily (37.6%). Over 45.1 % of students opted that coughing up blood, pain during the cough (46.5%), and worsening or change in an existing cough (42.1%) were reported as a sign of LC. In this study, the overall good awareness score was 60(29.7%). The awareness was significantly associated with gender ( p = 0.0001), the course of study ( p =0.018), the educational level ( p = 0.003), smoking cigarettes ( p = 0.003), and chronic disease status ( p = 0.0001). Conclusion: Undergraduates attending university in this study indicated various levels of awareness of LC symptoms. The undergraduate's educational background, study program, and gender all greatly influence their level of awareness. It is necessary to inform future medical professionals about this growing condition., Competing Interests: Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interest exists., (© The author(s).)

BACKGROUND This study aimed to assess the health literacy (HL) and health practices (HP) among nursing undergraduates at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. MATERIAL AND METHODS A cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted in 2023 to assess how nursing students perceive HL and HP. HL is the ability of individuals to acquire, interpret, assess, and act on information to promote and maintain good health, while HP involves the application of knowledge and skills. HL was assessed using a total of 16 items, subdivided into 4 domains (understanding, evaluating, accessing, and utilizing health information) while HP was assessed using 11 items on a 5-point Likert scale. RESULTS In this study, 53.9% of the students were found to have poor HP, while 40.9% (n=166) reported moderate HP, and 5.2% (n=21) reported good HP. With regards to HL, 38.9% (n=158) of students were found to have good HL while 52.2% (n=212) reported moderate HL, and 8.9% (n=36) reported poor HL. The findings indicated that there was a relationship between age and HP, indicating that age is a major predictor of HP (P=0.001). Other comparisons, including year of study, income source, marital status, and the prevalence of chronic conditions, were discovered to have a significant relationship (P=0.001) with HP levels. CONCLUSIONS According to these findings, most students reported poor HP, while one-third claimed good HL. Therefore, there is a need to address the factors related to poor HP while also recommending methods to support good HP among students.

Background and Objective: The role of healthcare professionals in society is unique since they are providers of health information and medication counseling to patients. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate Knowledge of Risk Factors and Warning Signs of Stroke among undergraduate health care Students (UHCS) at King Saud University (KSU), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia., Methodology: An online cross-sectional study was conducted among UHCS at KSU, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from September to November 2022, using self-administered 34-item questionnaires divided into five sections to assess participants' knowledge of stroke risk factors, warning signs, and management and source of information about the stroke. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 26 was used to analyze the data (SPSS)., Results: Of the 300 questionnaires distributed, 205 students completed the questionnaires, giving a response rate of 68.3%. Of whom 63 (30.7%) were pharmacy, 81 (39.5%) were nursing and 61 (29.8%) were emergency medical services (EMS) Students. One hundred and eighty-two (88.8%) of the students agreed that stroke affects bodily movement. With regards to risk factors, students identified high blood pressure 182 (88.8%), followed by heart disease 175 (85.4%), advanced age 164 (80%), previous Stroke history 158(77.1%), and lack of physical activity 156 (76.1%). Difficulty in speaking or slurred speech 164 (80%), dizziness, and loss of balance 163 (79.5%) were identified as the warning signs of stroke. In this study, 41.3 % of the pharmacy students reported a good level of knowledge than nursing and EMS students. However, 32.2% ( N = 66) of the healthcare undergraduates reported good knowledge. The knowledge score was significantly associated with the year of study, and educational degree ( p = 0.0001). Furthermore, there were no differences between parents working in healthcare settings ( p = 0.99)., Conclusion: In conclusion, the knowledge of stroke among healthcare students at King Saud University varied. The reported knowledge gap mostly relates to stroke risk factors and warning signs. Therefore, increasing public awareness of potential risk factors and stroke warning signs needs to receive more attention., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The reviewer AB declared a shared affiliation with the authors to the handling editor at the time of review., (Copyright © 2023 Syed, Qadhi, Barasheed, AlZahrani and Basil A. Al-Rawi.)