1.Perceptions of emergency medicine residents on the quality of residency training in the United States and Saudi Arabia
Aalam AHMAD ; Zocchi MARK ; Alyami KHALID ; Shalabi ABDULLAH ; Bakhsh ABDULLAH ; Alsufyani ASAAD ; Sabbagh ABDULRAHMAN ; Alshahrani MOHAMMED ; Pines M. JESSE
World Journal of Emergency Medicine 2018;9(1):5-12
BACKGROUND:We compare educational environments (i.e. physical, emotional and intel ectual experiences) of emergency medicine (EM) residents training in the United States of America (USA) and Saudi Arabia (SA). METHODS:A cross-sectional survey study was conducted using an adapted version of the validated Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) survey instrument from April 2015 through June 2016 to compare educational environments in all emergency medicine residency programs in SA and three selected programs in the USA with a history of training Saudi physicians. Overall scores were compared across programs, and for subscales (autonomy, teaching, and social Support), using chi-squared, t-tests, and analysis of variance. RESULTS:A total of 219 surveys were returned for 260 residents across six programs (3 SA, 3 USA), with a response rate of 84%. Program-specific response rates varied from 79%–100%. All six residencies were qualitatively rated as "more positive than negative but room for improvement". Quantitative PHEEM scores for the USA programs were significantly higher:118.7 compared to 109.9 for SA, P=0.001. In subscales, perceptions of social support were not different between the two countries (P=0.243); however, role autonomy (P<0.001) and teaching (P=0.005) were better in USA programs. There were no significant differences by post-graduate training year. CONCLUSION:EM residents in all three emergency medicine residency programs in SA and the three USA programs studied perceive their training as high quality in general, but with room for improvements. USA residency programs scored higher in overall quality. This was driven by more favorable perceptions of role autonomy and teaching. Understanding how residents perceive their programs may help drive targeted quality improvement efforts.
2.17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate for the prevention of recurrent preterm birth among singleton pregnant women with a prior history of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials
Saeed BARADWAN ; Sahar Hassan ABDULGHANI ; Mohammed ABUZAID ; Khalid KHADAWARDI ; Majed Saeed ALSHAHRANI ; Abdulrahman AL-MATARY ; May A. ALRASHEED ; Najlaa Talat MISKI ; Aroob ABDULHALIM ; Yousra Mansour ALTURKI ; Ahmed ABU-ZAID
Obstetrics & Gynecology Science 2021;64(6):484-495
To perform a systematic review and meta-analysis of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that investigated the clinical benefits of 17-alpha hydroxyprogesterone caproate (17OHPC) in the prevention of recurrent preterm birth (PTB) among singleton pregnant women with a previous history of PTB. We searched four major databases up till April 2021 and assessed the risk of bias in the included studies. We meta-analyzed various maternal-neonatal endpoints (n=18) and pooled them as mean difference or risk ratio (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) using the random-effects model. Six RCTs met the inclusion criteria, comprising 2,573 patients (17OHPC=1,617, control=956). RCTs revealed an overall low risk of bias. The rates of PTB <35 weeks (n=5 RCTs; RR, 0.77; 95% CI, 0.63-0.93; P=0.008), PTB <32 weeks (n=3 RCTs; RR, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.51-0.91; P=0.009), neonates with low birth weight (<2.5 kg) at delivery (n=3 RCTs; RR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.5-0.79; P<0.001), and neonatal death (n=4 RCTs; RR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.20-0.84; P=0.02) were significantly reduced in the 17OHPC group compared with the control group. Moreover, 17OHPC treatment correlated with a significantly decreased rate of retinopathy (n=2 RCTs; RR, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.18-0.97; P=0.004). However, there were no significant differences in the rates of neonatal intensive care unit admission, cesarean delivery, and other pretermrelated complications between both the groups. Among singleton pregnant women with a prior history of PTB, 17OHPC may favorably decrease the risks of recurrent PTB and reduce the rate of neonatal death.
3.Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on cellphones of healthcare workers in Najran University hospital, Najran City (Saudi Arabia)
Amna Mohammed Idris Musa ; Nada Elsir Ahmed Fagir ; Mugahed Ali Al-khadher ; Mohammed Abdulrahman Alshahrani ; Mohammed Hassan Nahari ; Mohamed Aleraky Saleh ; Itedal Abdelraheem Mohamed Ahmed
Malaysian Journal of Microbiology 2023;19(no.3):301-307
Aims:
Mobile phones are used extensively by healthcare workers (HCWs) who are unaware of the amount of
contamination these phones carry and act as reservoirs for organisms causing hospital-acquired infections. This investigation was aimed to find the prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination and antimicrobial resistance patterns of isolates from HCW’s cellphones.
Methodology and results:
This study was a hospital-based cross-sectional study. A total of 120 samples were isolated from HCWs’ cellphones and subjected to culture and sensitivity as per the standard guidelines. Five (18.1%) out of 120
collected samples were from 11 lab technicians’ phones and were positive for S. aureus and 6.25% were obtained from 48 nurses’ cellphone swabs.
Conclusion, significance and impact of study
The findings of this study reveal that HCWs’ cellphones could be apossible source of infection since a high prevalence of MRSA was found on lab technicians and nurse cellphone sample swabs. On the other hand, all S. aureus isolates were resistant to methicillin and ceftazidime. Also, no significant relationship between the prevalence of MRSA was detected.