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Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health problem. CKD causes patients to be hospitalized for a longer time to treat the disease. The impact of the hospitalization brings major changes and affects the quality of life (QoL) of the patients. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the impact of hospitalization on the QoL of patients with CKD. A cross-sectional study was conducted at the inpatient departments (IPDs) and outpatient departments (OPDs) of selected hospitals, in the eastern region of Saudi Arabia. The kidney disease quality of life (KDQOL) scale was used for the data collection and the findings were analyzed. The hospitalized patients had a poorer QoL than the OPD patients. The physical component summary (PCS) and mental component summary (MCS) mean scores were 52.82 ± 2.32 and 52.57 ± 2.93 in IPD patients, respectively, and 63.46 ± 3.65 and 66.39 ± 0.91 in OPD patients, respectively, which was significant (p < 0.0001). The QoL of patients decreased in the end stages of CKD. A significant association was observed between gender, occupation, smoking, and the stages of CKD with the QoL of the hospitalized patients. Measures must be taken to improve the QoL of these patients at all levels.

Purpose Several factors influence the student’s physical activity and lifestyle. The coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) lockdown has restricted student’s activity and altered their routine lifestyle. This prospective cohort study aimed to determine the significant changes in body mass index (BMI), physical activity, and lifestyle of the students including diet, sleep, and mental health before and during COVID-19 lockdown. Methods The study participants were 628 students studying bachelor’s degree programs, between 18 and 30 years of age, both genders from the university of Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia. The lockdown began on 23 March and ended on 21 June 2020 in Saudi Arabia. The students were interviewed before (March 2020) and during (June 2020) lockdown. The structured tool included baseline information of the students, anthropometric data, global physical activity questionnaire (GPAQ), dietary recall, Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and perceived stress scale (PSP). Chi-square tests were used to associate the baseline information with BMI changes during the lockdown. Results BMI of the students showed that 32% increased their weight, 22% lost their weight and 46% maintained the same weight during COVID-19 lockdown. The physical activity significantly decreased and sedentary time increased (p = 0.0001). Regarding the lifestyle components, fast and fried food consumption decreased, and calorie intake increased significantly (p = 0.001). Stress level (p = 0.001) significantly decreased, and sleep level (p = 0.001) increased during lockdown. The variables associated with weight changes were the level of students (p < 0.05) and time spent on social media per day (p < 0.0001). Conclusion Though half of the students maintained the same BMI during the lockdown, students who increased BMI were associated with physical activity and lifestyle. Hence, health awareness on weight maintenance, active physical activities, and a healthy lifestyle must be created among the students, which help in creating and implementing policies in the future., Video abstract Point your SmartPhone at the code above. If you have a QR code reader the video abstract will appear. Or use: https://youtu.be/aBhTIfvT-0o

Sahbanathul Missiriya Jalal,1 Ahmed Mansour Alrajeh,2 Jumanah Abdullah Ali Al-Abdulwahed1 1Department of Nursing, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, 31982, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Respiratory Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, 31982, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Sahbanathul Missiriya Jalal, Department of Nursing, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, 31982, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966564070973, Email sjalal@kfu.edu.saPurpose: Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) is one of the most common infections in intensive care units (ICU) with a 6– 52% incidence. The VAP mortality rate is 50% to 70%. Medical professionals (MPs) working in the ICU are expected to follow the guidelines to prevent VAP. The study aimed to assess the performance of MPs in preventing VAP and to associate the performance with the baseline information.Methods: An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in the ICUs of selected hospitals in eastern Saudi Arabia. A total of 152 MPs were selected by random sampling. A structured questionnaire including baseline information, knowledge and performance-related questions was used to collect the data. Frequency, mean, and chi-square tests were used for analysis.Results: Out of 152 MPs, 40.8% had adequate and 7.9% had inadequate knowledge. A high mean score of 12.9 ± 2.2 was obtained by physicians, followed by 11.3 ± 1.6 by nurses, 9.8 ± 2.2 by RTs, and 8.6 ± 2.1 by interns. Overall, 52.6% had satisfactory performance. Approximately 57.9% and 67.8% of MPs cleaned their hands before touching the patient and the ventilator, respectively. Many (79.6%) MPs used personal protective equipment in the ICU. Some (47.4%) of the MPs changed the patient’s position regularly. About 77.6% of MPs followed the sterile technique when suctioning the airway. There was a significant association found between the performance of MPs on the prevention of VAP with age (p < 0.001), designation (p < 0.05), professional experience (p < 0.05), managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease conditions (p < 0.05) and training attended (p < 0.001).Conclusion: Although some of the MPs had satisfactory performance regarding VAP prevention in the ICU, more attention should be paid to training them on clinical guidelines to improve health care quality and reduce the rate of VAP.Keywords: ventilator-associated pneumonia, intensive care units, medical professionals, infection

Biomedical waste (BMW) management is an essential practice of healthcare professionals (HCPs) for preventing health and also environmental hazards. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has become a global pandemic, posing significant challenges for healthcare sectors. A cross-sectional study was performed to assess the knowledge, practice, and attitude on BMW management among HCPs when taking care of patients with COVID-19 and associated with demographic variables. From Al-Ahsa healthcare sectors, 256 HCPs were selected randomly, of which 105 (41%) had excellent knowledge, 87 (34%) had good knowledge, and 64 (25%) had poor knowledge with a mean score of 13.1 ± 3.6. A higher mean score was (14.4 ± 3.2) obtained by physicians, and (13.6 ± 3.8) nurses than the other HCPs. Regarding practice, 72 (28.1%) HCPs used and discarded PPE while handling biomedical wastes. Additionally, 88 (34.4%) followed proper hand hygiene before and after each procedure and whenever needed. Physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists had a more favorable attitude than other HCPs. There was a statistically significant association found among knowledge level and educational qualification (p &lt, 0.0001), gender (p &lt, 0.001), and work experience (p &lt, 0.05). Emphasis is needed to train all HCPs regarding proper BMW management during this pandemic to prevent infection transmission.

Objectives: The government of Saudi suspended international flights for an indefinite period temporarily tomany countries after the World Health Organization announcement of Corona Virus Disease (COVID-19)as a pandemic. Saudi expatriates used to visit their native country during summer vacation. However, thispandemic crisis is generating stress to the expatriates. Hence, the study aimed to investigate the stress dueto the travel ban in the pandemic crisis among expatriates of Saudi Arabia and associate the demographicvariables with stress.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2020 to August 2020 in the Al-Ahsa regionof Saudi. Totally 264 expatriates, who met the inclusion criteria were selected by convenient samplingtechnique. The data collected through a structured questionnaire and ten points perceived stress scale (PSS)using the electronic method. The collected data were analysed by applying descriptive and inferentialstatistics using SPSS 20.0.Results: Among 264 expatriates, 25(9.5%) were low stressed, 157(59.5%) were moderately stressed, and82(31%) were severely stressed. The findings revealed that females faced higher stress than males(p

Proper dietary practices should be developed during the student years that will continue into the future. This study aimed to identify the eating habits and dietary practices among King Faisal University (KFU) students, explore the barriers to adherence to healthy eating, associate the understanding of healthy diets with students&rsquo, characteristics, and determine the association between body mass index (BMI) and awareness of the concept of healthy diets, academic discipline, and enrollment in a nutrition course. In this cross-sectional study, students were selected randomly and a questionnaire was distributed using an electronic platform through KFU email. Out of 564 students, nearly half (45.7%) reported eating snacks as their main food, and some (38.3%) reported eating with their family twice daily. The students rarely reported eating with friends (73%) or eating dates (48.8%). Furthermore, many reported that they were not consuming a balanced diet (42.6%). Some students (46.3%) reported taking breakfast daily, and 49.1% reported eating meals regularly. There was low consumption of vegetables (29.3%) and fruits (26.2%) among the students. The barriers to adherence to healthy eating were the availability of fast food (73.2%), high cost of healthy food (72.7%), limited time (59%), and laziness (57.1%). Statistically significant data indicated that the students with a normal BMI were more aware of the concept of healthy diets, studied medical and applied sciences, and were enrolled in KFU nutrition courses.

The study purpose was to investigate the effect of Phaseolus Vulgaris (PV) on urinary biochemical parameters among patients with kidney stones. We conducted a randomized controlled study among 60 patients with kidney stones (size &lt, 10 mm) in the nephrology unit of both government and private hospitals, Al-Ahsa. Urinary volume, calcium, magnesium, potassium, oxalate, uric acid, and power of hydrogen (pH) were assessed before and after the intervention of giving 250 g of PV consumption as an extract thrice weekly (2.2 L to 2.5 L per week) for 6 weeks, which was compared with control. A &lsquo, t&rsquo, test was used with the significance at 5%. Mean score of age was 44.5 &plusmn, 10.16 in PV group and 43.73 &plusmn, 9.79 in control. Four (13.3%) and two (6.7%) had family history of kidney stones. Body mass Index (BMI) mean was 26.44 &plusmn, 2.7 and 26.36 &plusmn, 2.65 in pre and post-test, respectively, which were significant (p = 0.01017). There were significant changes (p = 0.000) in urine volume from 1962 &plusmn, 152.8 to 2005 &plusmn, 148.8, calcium 205.4 &plusmn, 11.99 to 198.4 &plusmn, 12.52, potassium 44.07 &plusmn, 3.66 to 52.15 &plusmn, 4.37, oxalate 37.12 &plusmn, 5.38 to 33.02 &plusmn, 5.71, and uric acid 6.88 &plusmn, 0.7 to 6.31 &plusmn, 0.58. In conclusion, PV is effective management for the patients with kidney stones as it increases the urinary volume and enhances the elimination of small kidney stones.