Evaluation of provisions for gifted students in Saudi Arabia

This study was conducted to evaluate the provision of gifted education in Saudi Arabia, which had not been assessed since its commencement 12 years ago. This study represents a comprehensive and objective evaluation of all the gifted centres that provide care and services for gifted students in Saudi Arabia, in order to achieve the following objectives: 1. Identify and classify different policies of planning and providing programs for gifted students in Saudi Arabia; 2. Identify and evaluate the effectiveness of procedures used in selecting gifted students in Saudi Arabia; 3. Identify and evaluate the effectiveness of procedures used in selecting and training specially qualified teachers and administrative staff who work with gifted students in Saudi Arabia; 4. Identify and evaluate the effectiveness of strategies and curriculum approaches implemented in programs for the gifted students in Saudi Arabia; and 5. Provide a guideline for a Saudi model of evaluating, planning, and implementing programs for gifted students. In order to carry out these objectives, the study used a mixed method design with data collected through questionnaires, interviews, and observation. The participants of this study were administrators, supervisors and teachers who work in gifted centres in Saudi Arabia, including gifted students and their parents. The total number of participants of both genders numbered 541 participants. This research study sought response to the following questions: 1. What are the current gifted policies, and how have they been implemented? 2. What are the current gifted provisions, and how have they been developed? 3. What procedures are used to select gifted students for gifted programs, and how effective are they? 4. What procedures are used to select and train teachers for gifted programs, and how effective are they? 5. What strategies and curriculum approaches are implemented for gifted students, and how effective are they? 6. How can provisions for gifted students be improved? 7. Are there differences in the provisions for gifted girls and gifted boys in Saudi Arabia? What effects do these differences have on the key stakeholders’ satisfaction with the education of gifted students? The results of the study showed a reduced performance by the Ministry of Education in terms of providing gifted education. There was no clear policy and no follow-up despite the existence of legislation that allows for the implementation of appropriate methodologies for the gifted. In addition, identification of gifted students was also a problem. Provision of this type of education has not yet embodied the means of identifying gifted children nor the selection and training of supervisors and teachers. Further appropriate curricula were also lacking. Finally, there was a notable lack of financial support either from the Ministry of Education or the private sector. This is somewhat puzzling given that it is the latter sector which most benefits from the education of gifted students. This study has suggested best practice for the care of gifted students in Saudi Arabia, based on the recommendations reached by the researcher through the discussion of results

National approach to standardize and improve mechanical ventilation

NASAM (National Approach to Standardize and Improve Mechanical Ventilation) is a national collaborative quality improvement project in Saudi Arabia. It aims to improve the care of mechanically ventilated patients by implementing evidence-based practices with the goal of reducing the rate of ventilator-associated events and therefore reducing mortality, mechanical ventilation duration and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stay. The project plans to extend the implementation to a total of 100 ICUs in collaboration with multiple health systems across the country. As of March 22, 2019, a total of 78 ICUs have registered from 6 different health sectors, 48 hospitals, and 27 cities. The leadership support in all health sectors for NASAM speaks of the commitment to improve the care of mechanically ventilated patients across the kingdom

Impact of a national collaborative project to improve the care of mechanically ventilated patients

This prospective quasi-experimental study from the NASAM (National Approach to Standardize and Improve Mechanical Ventilation) collaborative assessed the impact of evidence-based practices including subglottic suctioning, daily assessment for spontaneous awakening trial (SAT), spontaneous breathing trial (SBT), head of bed elevation, and avoidance of neuromuscular blockers unless otherwise indicated. The study outcomes included VAE (primary) and intensive care unit (ICU) mortality. Changes in daily care process measures and outcomes were evaluated using repeated measures mixed modeling. The results were reported as incident rate ratio (IRR) for each additional month with 95% confidence interval (CI). A comprehensive program that included education on evidence-based practices for optimal care of mechanically ventilated patients with real-time benchmarking of daily care process measures to drive improvement in forty-two ICUs from 26 hospitals in Saudi Arabia (\u3e27,000 days of observation). Compliance with subglottic suctioning, SAT and SBT increased monthly during the project by 3.5%, 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively (IRR 1.035, 95%CI 1.007–1.064, p = 0.0148; 1.021, 95% CI 1.010–1.032, p = 0.0003; and 1.019, 95%CI 1.009–1.029, p = 0.0001, respectively). The use of neuromuscular blockers decreased monthly by 2.5% (IRR 0.975, 95%CI 0.953–0.998, p = 0.0341). The compliance with head of bed elevation was high at baseline and did not change over time. Based on data for 83153 ventilator days, VAE rate was 15.2/1000 ventilator day (95%CI 12.6–18.1) at baseline and did not change during the project (IRR 1.019, 95%CI 0.985–1.053, p = 0.2812). Based on data for 8523 patients; the mortality was 30.4% (95%CI 27.4–33.6) at baseline, and decreased monthly during the project by 1.6% (IRR 0.984, 95%CI 0.973–0.996, p = 0.0067). A national quality improvement collaborative was associated with improvements in daily care processes. These changes were associated with a reduction in mortality but not VAEs

Validation of Digital Impressions’ Accuracy Obtained Using Intraoral and Extraoral Scanners: A Systematic Review

Background: At present, the evidence regarding digital impressions’ accuracy recorded by using digital scanners is lacking. This systematic review aimed to evaluate whether the type of scanning (intraoral/extraoral) affects the Accuracy of Digital Impressions. Method: Two independent reviewers performed a systematic search in the database both electronically and manually (PubMed, Ebsco HOST, the Cochrane Library, and Google Scholar) for articles published from 1 January 2010 to 1 December 2022. This study was registered with the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO CRD42020188765) and followed the PRISMA statement. The question in focus was as follows: Does the type of scanning (intraoral or extraoral) affect the accuracy of digital impression? Results: A total of 449 papers were obtained by searching electronically and manually. In total, 15 complete-text papers qualified for assessment based on eligibility criteria. After reading the full-text articles, five studies were excluded. Ten studies were selected for the qualitative analysis. The qualitative data reported that the accuracy of both types of scanners (intraoral and extraoral) lies within the range of clinical acceptability. Nevertheless, the intraoral scanners seem to be more accurate when compared to the extraoral scanners for a partial arch situation. Conclusions: Scanning type affects the accuracy of the digital impression. Various factors influence the scanning ability. Intraoral scanners seem to be more accurate compared to extraoral scanners for a partial arch situation. More studies comparing the accuracy of the intraoral scanner and extraoral scanner for a complete arch scan and in an in vivo study setting are needed

Convalescing Mandibular Anterior Crowding through Piezocision and the Micro-Osteoperforation Surgical Procedure—A Clinical Comparative Study

Background: Minimally invasive periodontic (perio) surgical procedures, piezocision, and micro-osteoperforation are useful techniques for accelerating tooth movement. These techniques also offer advantages in the orthodontic (ortho) and aesthetic domains. This study aimed to evaluate and compare the rates of lower anterior decrowding with piezocision and micro-osteoperforation. Methods: This clinical study included 24 patients requiring fixed orthodontic treatments. Two periodontic techniques (piezocision (PZ) and micro-osteoperforation (MOP)) were considered for the orthodontic treatments. Each patient was randomly allocated to either the piezocision (PZ) group or the micro-osteoperforation (MOP) group. The piezocision group received five radiographically guided incisions on the labial surface of the alveolar bone, whereas the micro-osteoperforation group received one to three MOPs each using a mini-implant drill between the six lower anterior teeth, and later, an initial arch wire was ligated to each bracket. Little’s irregularity index (LII) was calculated using a digital vernier caliper on study models every four weeks until decrowding was achieved. The difference in the rates of lower anterior crowding between the piezocision and micro-osteoperforation groups was analyzed to determine the statistical significance. Results: The rates of irregularity index change during decrowding were 4.38 ± 0.61 in the piezocision group and 3.82 ± 0.47 in the micro-osteoperforation group. Piezocision was found to be 1.2 times faster than micro-osteoperforation in terms of the rate of decrowding. Conclusion: The advanced perio–ortho combination technique was advantageous in accelerated decrowding. In comparison to MOP, there was an increase in the rate of decrowding with PZ. Decrowding can be completed quickly with PZ, and it can thus be used to treat crowding effectively in a limited time frame

Minimal underlying data.

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List of participating sites and ethics committee approvals.

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Data measures definitions.

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Characteristics of participating sites.

IQR: interquartile range. (PDF)</p

Map of Saudi Arabia with distribution of participating ICUs.

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