Mothers' knowledge of child health matters: Are we doing enough?

Background: Child care is mostly the responsibility of mothers. Several studies have revealed that the mothers' education has a positive impact on their knowledge and practice in child health matters.

Objectives: The study was undertaken to assess the level of mothers' knowledge on certain aspects of child health care and whether there is any correlation between their level of knowledge and the number of years of formal education they have had.

Assessment of the educational environment at the College of Medicine of King Saud University, Riyadh.

We used an Arabic translation (revised in our college) of the Dundee Ready Education Environment Measure (DREEM) inventory to assess the educational environment at the College of Medicine in King Saud University, Riyadh. Over 500 questionnaires were distributed and 222 were analysed. Scores were: 45.

Screening for psychosocial problems in children attending the pediatric clinic at king khalid university hospital (kkuh) in riyadh (ksa).

Introduction: Psychosocial problems are highly prevalent among children and adolescents. One approach to facilitating recognition and referral of these problems is to use parent-completed screening questionnaire as part of routine primary care.

Aim And Methods: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence and type of psychosocial problems in a random sample of children attending the pediatric clinic at KKUH at the time of the study.

The spectrum of child abuse presenting to a university hospital in Riyadh.

Background: Child abuse is prevalent worldwide, although it is often underreported. we describe the pattern of child abuse and neglect presenting to the emergency room of our hospital, the sociocultural changes which brought this about, and suggest ways to deal with this emotionally sensitive issue.

Patients And Methods: Thirteen cases of child abuse and neglect were seen in the emergency room of King Khalid University Hospital over a period of one year from July 1996 to June 1997.

Knowledge & practices of childhood immunization among primary health care providers in riyadh city: part ii - precautions and contraindications to vaccination.

Objectives: To assess 1) how aware those who administer vaccines in the primary health care centres (PHCs) are of the appropriate precautions and contraindicaitons of vaccines and 2) the extent to which their practice complies with standards, and 3) the correlation between the levels of knowledge and practice on one hand with the duration of practice and attendance at a training course on vaccination on the other hand, for physicians and nurses separately.

Methods: A self-adminstered questionnaire including 16 statements related to knowledge and practice of precautions and contraindications of vaccines was distributed among workers in 50 MOH PHCs in Riyadh.

Results: 506 questionnaires were returned, only 331 were completed for this part of the study giving a response rate of almost 65%.

Munchausen syndrome by proxy: The emerging face of child abuse in Saudi Arabia.

Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.

Age-related changes in blood lymphocyte subsets of Saudi Arabian healthy children.

The age-related changes in absolute and percentage values of lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of healthy children of different ages (1 month to 13 years) were studied by flow cytometry. The absolute and percentage values for most lymphocyte subpopulations differed substantially with age. Comparisons among age groups from infants through adults revealed progressive declines in the absolute numbers of leukocytes, total lymphocytes, and T, B, and natural killer (NK) cells.

Breastfeeding practices in urban Riyadh.

Three hundred and forty-seven mother-infant pairs attending a well baby clinic in a University Hospital in Riyadh were interviewed on the type of feeding given to their infants. The objective was to assess the latest trend of infant feeding practices in an urban population and to compare present trends and their significance with previous reports. Results showed that 32.

Lymphocyte subset reference ranges in healthy Saudi Arabian children.

In an attempt to establish the reference ranges for lymphocyte subsets in children, the distribution of lymphocyte population-bearing surface markers such as CD3 (T cells), CD19 (B cells), CD4 (T helper/inducer cells), CD8 (T suppressor/cytotoxic cells), and CD16 and/or CD56 on CD3- cells (NK cells) has been studied among healthy Saudi Arabian infants and children. Normal adult blood donors were used for comparison. Anticoagulated peripheral blood was stained with monoclonal antibodies and the lymphocytes were analyzed by flow cytometry for the expression of the above markers.

Non-group A streptococci: are they pathogens in the throat?

A total of 3,184 paediatric patients with sporadic pharyngitis was studied at King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In addition, 478 children without pharyngitis who were matched for age and sex were included as controls. Group A beta-haemolytic streptococci (beta HS) were detected significantly more often among the children with pharyngitis than among the controls (8.

Helicobacter pylori infection in children in Saudi Arabia.

20 children with suspected Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection are presented. The mean age of the children was 9.

The haematological manifestations of visceral leishmaniasis in infancy and childhood.

The haematological manifestations were reviewed in 94 patients (55 males and 39 females) with visceral leishmaniasis. Their ages ranged from 4 months to 12 years (mean per cent 1.8 years).

Visceral leishmaniasis in infancy and childhood epidemiology and clinicopathological study of 63 cases in Al-Baha Province, Saudi Arabia.

The epidemiology, clinicopathological features, and response to therapy of 63 Saudi patients with visceral leishmaniasis are described. The clinical features in our cases were similar to those described from Asir province, India, and Ethiopia, except for the presence of lymphadenopathy. Fever, hepatosplenomegaly, pancytopenia, and liver dysfunction were common findings.

The relative importance of Shigella in the aetiology of childhood gastroenteritis in Saudi Arabia.

The role of shigella infection in childhood gastroenteritis was studied over a 2-year period. Shigella species were found in the faecal specimens of 70 (1%) of 7369 children with gastroenteritis, but in only 1 (0.1%) of 1130 controls.