From the Editor

This is the last issue of the year. The issue is rich with topics of interest to primary care. At the end of the year I would like to acknowledge all the team, the editorial board, the publishing manager and her team and to thank all authors for their continuous support and trust in the journal.

Elnashar M.A et al did a cross sectional study aimed at assessing the awareness of vertically transmitted infections (TORCH) among health care providers, female students in Taif university. A pre-designed questionnaire was used to collect data on the women and students' knowledge of vertically transmitted infections (torch). About 87% and 71% of students and mothers respectively didn't know that the congenital infections are contagious, and 57.46% and 75% of them didn't know that the congenital infections can cause congenital anomalies. The authors concluded that the deficient knowledge of studied females regarding congenital infections observed in this study calls for health education program directed to female students and women in the reproductive age about congenital infections.

Alharthi, A.F et al did a cross sectional study to assess the level of knowledge, attitude and practices of breastfeeding with its determinants among the in Taif city. The study included 384 women. About 26% of the participants had very good level of knowledge regarding breast feeding whereas 15.6% had poor level of knowledge. The authors concluded that the level of knowledge about the breastfeeding in this sample was moderate and slightly more than half of them had positive attitude towards breastfeeding. The main source of health education in our sample about breastfeeding were the doctors.

Alharthi, W.M et al; aimed to assess elementary school teachers' knowledge, attitude and practice towards epilepsy. A cross sectional study which was carried out on 400 elementary school teachers from 16 schools in Taif city using convenience sampling technique. 95% of participants have heard of epilepsy and their source of knowledge was mostly public media (43%).(58.8%) believed that epilepsy is a result of multiple causes like head trauma, brain tumor and even spiritual illness. If a child is having a seizure at school (40.3%) of the teachers chose to open his mouth forcefully to prevent tongue swallowing. The authors concluded that there is a gab in teachers knowledge regarding epilepsy which necessitate the presence of education programs about dealing with epileptic children properly.

Hasanain A et al; presented a case of CDH3 mutation associated with ectodermal dysplasia and hair abnormalities. A six-year-old Saudi girl who was referred to the Dermatology Clinic at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (General Organization) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia because of sparse hair with no other phenotypic abnormalities. She had multiple short sparse, lusterless hair appearance with few alopecic patches and plaques. Her macula exhibited retinal and choroidal dystrophy with parapapillary retinal pigmentation. Genetic test showed positive homozygous pathogenic variant in CDH3 gene, which is linked to HJMD.

Abdulrahman, Z.N et al carried a descriptive study with analytic component carried out on secondary schools students in Tikrit district looking at looking at Returnee's Depression Epidemiology among Secondary School Students in Tikrit-Iraq after Internal Displacement. Study revealed that 64 (23.8%), 26 (9.7%) are of returnee's were of moderate and high depression score respectively. The authors concluded that depression prevalence rate in IDPs who are living in Tikrit city found to be (33.5%) of returnee's, and the rate of depression is higher among of returnee's female than male.

Al-Obeidy S.H et al, aimed at performing hearing screening of children aged 6 years to detect the prevalence, incidence, and degree of hearing loss in this age group. This is a cross sectional study, involved a randomly selected sample of (425 students) from primary school children in Tikrit. The hearing loss found 30 students (7.1%) of the study sample. HI found in thirty students from total 425 student (7.1%) in this age group, twenty eight of the H Impaired students (6.63%) were have conductive hearing loss, and the remaining two students between (0.47%) were have SNHL. The authors concluded that the commonest type of hearing loss in children is CHL which is amenable for medical or surgical treatment. But the SNHL due to genetic or postnatal cause which is usually permanent and needs hearing aids to improve school performance & normal social communication ability.

Arain F.R looked at the Level of Patient Empathy among medical students of Saudi Medical College. He followed a cross sectional study conducted among 545undergraduated medical student in Faculty of medicine at Taif University. Mean score of empathy was found to be65.21±7. 24. Mean score of empathy was found to be better among male students (66.31±7.78) as compared to female students (64.37±6.68). Difference between scores among male and female students was found to be statistically significant (T=3.09, p value<0.05). The author concluded that the mean empathy score among Medical students found to be decreased with academic year. And it is found to be better among male student.

Ibrahim S.H looked at tympanometric findings among adults with chronic nasal obstruction due to sinonasal pathology. He did a prospective case study of (310) adult patients with chronic nasal obstruction were subjected to tympanometry for study of middle ear pressure in the private ENT clinic for a period of two years in the Salah Al-Deen governorate. The author conclude that adults with chronic nasal obstruction due to mucosal inflammation differs from others due to anatomical and structural causes in the followings; 1.The incidence of abnormal tympanogram (type B and C) is more. 2.The type B (OME) was more than type C (Eustachian tube dysfunction). 3.In the treatment ,it was found that the need to VT insertion was more.

Issa Z.A et al, aim was to compare two methods for cervical cancer screening (conventional Pap smear and colposcopy). The authors followed a cross sectional study carried out on 38 patient presented to the private clinic. All cases underwent the Pap smear, a colposcopy, and a cervical biopsy, with the latter being considered as the gold-standard test. The overall sensitivity of pap smear was (93%) , with largest sensitivity among those aged ? 44 years (100%), while among those aged ? 45 years was decreased (86%) was 100%. The author concluded that the sensitivity and specificity results indicate that the cytologist need more training as it is operator dependent.

Younis H.A et al looked at the Prevalence of Dry Eye Disease in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Rheumatology Unit in Baghdad Teaching Hospital, a tertiary referral center in Iraq. Total of 103 adult Iraqi patients with rheumatoid arthritis were enrolled in this study. Dry eyes found among (27.2%) of RA cases. The age of study group ranged between 23-60 years with a mean of 41.5 years. Females were more frequent than males with a female to male ratio of 7.6 to 1. The authors concluded that the prevalence of dry eye was 27.2%. There was significant association between ocular dryness with RF, ACPA, high disease activity, family history of RA and treatment with biological drugs.

Alsaleh R et al looked at the Knowledge and awareness of health practice during pregnancy among females of Jeddah City in Saudi Arabia. An observational cross-sectional study was done carried out on 445 females from general population in Jeddah city, Saudi Arabia from January to June 2019. The authors concluded that the overall Knowledge about correct and poor practice during pregnancy was low to moderate. So, the study group recommended formation and implementation of health education programs to be given to expectant mothers especially issues related to nutrition and activity, Evaluation of its impact on mothers and babies can be applied at a later stage.

Sultan I et al, evaluate the knowledge and awareness of Saudi Arabian population in the western region regarding old age related eye diseases i.e. cataract, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. They followed an observational cross-sectional study was performed on 580 from general population from different cities in Saudi Arabia. This study reported good knowledge of participants about cataract, diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma (84.1 %, 57.2% and 71.1%) while there was poor knowledge regarding age-related macular degeneration with statistically significant differences between them with the best knowledge in all aspects was about cataract (p value <0.001). The authors concluded that the Saudi population who are 45 years or older had relatively good knowledge about diseases such as cataract, DR and glaucoma while they had poor knowledge about macular degeneration.

Albishri J.A et al attempt to assess the presence of fatigue and mood disturbances among RA patients in Saudi Arabia and possible association between depression and fatigue in RA.
A cross sectional study was carried out on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients using convenient sampling. RA patients had a mean MAF-GFI score of (29.91 ±8.17) and a mean Beck score (17.72 ±10.13). 28.7% of RA patients had mild mood disturbance, and depression was significantly correlated with fatigue in RA Patients. The authors concluded that depression and fatigue show a clear association in RA patients. Depression is prevalent enough to warrant regular screening for warning signs of mood disturbance, particularly when fatigue has been established.

Algethami, A.F et al attempted to determine the population's knowledge and awareness about pediatric nocturnal enuresis in Taif city. The authors followed a cross-sectional design was was done on 301 participants from adult population of Taif city of both genders, saudis and non saudis, of all educational levels and marital status. The majority of the respondents (90.1%) were females and 76.7% reported that they had education at university level. The participant with higher educational qualification had a significantly higher percentage of prior knowledge about enuresis than those with lower educational qualification. The majority of the participants (61.8%) didn't have any idea regarding the different type of enuresis. Study findings reveal even though nocturnal enuresis is a commonly reported childhood problem, the knowledge regarding its causes and effective management is still lacking in parents who participated in their study.

Abdullah S. Almalki sought to determine the awareness of female students in Taif university (TU) about diabetes mellitus risk factors and complications and to promote public health awareness. Theirs was a cross-sectional study was conducted among 400 students (average age was 26 years and ages ranged between 18-33 years) who were selected randomly from university colleges, excluding medical students.

Chief Editor:
A. Abyad
MD, MPH, AGSF, AFCHSE
Email: aabyad@cyberia.net.lb

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