Sleep quality is associated with vitamin B12 status in female Arab students

Studies have explored how vitamin B12 status affects sleep among elders and children, but this remains to be investigated among young adults. We used the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess the association between serum vitamin B12 and sleep among female college students in Saudi Arabia. In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 355 participants (age (years), 20.7 ± 1.5; body mass index, 23.6 kg/m2 ± 5.2) at King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Fasting blood samples were analyzed regarding the serum vitamin B12 and blood lipids. Anthropometric, socio-demographic, clinical history, stress, physical activity, and dietary data were collected. We assessed the sleep statuses of the participants using the PSQI. Around 72% of the participants were “poor” sleepers (PSQI > 5). Subgroup analysis within the tertiles showed that participants with higher vitamin B12 in the second and third tertiles reported better scores for sleep quality (B ± SE = −12.7 ± 5.6, p = 0.03; B ± SE = −32.7 ± 16.4, p = 0.05, respectively) and also reported a lower use of sleep medication (B ± SE = −21.2 ± 9.9, p = 0.03, in the second tertile only), after adjusting for the waist–hip ratio and stress. However, sleep was not found to be directly associated with either serum vitamin B12 or dietary vitamin B12. In conclusion, the serum vitamin B12 results show that the participants with higher vitamin B12 in the second and third tertiles reported better scores on the sleep quality scale and a lower use of sleep medication. However, no such associations were observed with the overall PSQI. More studies with larger sample sizes are needed to establish a direct relationship between sleep and vitamin B12

The Perceptions and Attitudes of Undergraduate Healthcare Sciences Students of Feedback: A Qualitative Study

Purpose: Regardless of the importance of feedback, many students are dissatisfied with the feedback they receive. This study was conducted to evaluate undergraduate healthcare sciences students' perceptions and attitudes toward, and their lived experiences of feedback Methods: To evaluate undergraduate healthcare sciences students' perceptions and attitudes toward feedback using a descriptive approach. A Phenomenological qualitative study. Healthcare sciences students were invited to participate in semi-structured focus groups interviews; open-ended questions were developed per the study objectives and the knowledge deficit to guide the discussion. Results: Five major themes were apparent during the discussion regarding the perceptions and attitudes of healthcare sciences students towards feedback. Students highly regard honest and continuous feedback before grading or final assessment. Students preferred receiving feedback as a private dialogue that contains balanced positive comments and points for improvements. Comparing student performance with others or providing subjective and unspecific feedback were the most common reasons for students to disregard feedback. The value of the level of faculty or years of experience was controversial among students. Limited time, poor communication skills and unavailability of a faculty member were perceived as major barriers for constructive feedback. Students recommended both peer feedback and mutual feedback between students and faculty members to be applied continuously. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that healthcare sciences students need continuous constructive feedback. Providing mutual and peer feedback as a dialogue considering balanced positive comments and points for improvement should be implemented during the educational process. Training for both faculty members and students is highly recommended. Keywords: Qualitative study, Feedback, Health-care students, Focus group

Appropriateness of proton pump inhibitors use in noncritically ill hospitalized children in a tertiary hospital in Saudi Arabia

Background: Studies assessing the appropriate use of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) for hospitalized noncritically ill pediatric patients are lacking. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the suitability of PPI prescriptions in noncritically ill pediatric patients. Methods: This cross sectional retrospective study was conducted at a maternity hospital in Qassim, Saudi Arabia from November 2020 to January 2021. All noncritically ill hospitalized children aged 14 years and below who received PPIs were included. The endpoints included the number and percentage of patients who appropriately received PPIs in general and in each age category. The collected data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel (version 2208, Microsoft Corp., Redmond, WA, USA). Results: In total, 332 medical records were screened, of which 246 were included. Of all patients, 49.2% were children and 50.8% were infants, with the average age at admission being 5.39 ± 5.4 years years. More than half of the patients were female, and the average weight of patients was 19.8 kg. Omeprazole was appropriately used in 95 (38.5%) patients. Based on age groups, omeprazole was appropriately used in 66.3% of children and 38.4% of infants. Conclusion: The use of omeprazole in noncritically ill pediatrics was only deemed appropriate in 38.6% of the study population. This result indicates that this medication was overused in the institution. Additional research is required to confirm this on a nationwide scale