Profile of facial palsy in Arar, northern Saudi Arabia

Abstract Background: The term facial palsy generally refers to weakness of the facial muscles, mainly resulting from temporary or permanent damage to the facial nerve. Common causes of facial paralysis include infection or inflammation of the facial nerve, head trauma, head or neck tumor, stroke. Objective: To outline the incidence of several etiologies and the profile of patients with peripheral facial paralysis attending the outpatient clinic of the neurology department in Hospitals of Arar City, Saudi Arabia. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out in Arar city from October 2016 to May 2017. The study was conducted in the outpatient clinic of the neurology department in hospitals of Arar City. Any ages of both sexes of all newly diagnosed unilateral facial palsy were included in the study. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 15, using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test. P-value was considered significant if <0.05 Results: The mean age of the facial palsy cases was 33.65 (±11.71) years. Among the studied participants, the total prevalence of facial palsy was 26.3% (61% females and 39% males). The right side of the face was affected in 51.2% and the etiology was exposure to cold air current in 92.7% of cases. The treatment was physiotherapy in 80.5% of the cases, medical in 17.1% and surgical in 2.4%. There was significant relationship between smoking and the occurrence of facial palsy (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study revealed that facial palsy was common in Arar city. The rate is higher among males than females. We also concluded that exposure to cold air current was the main etiology. We recommend health education sittings to bring awareness to the public about the nature, causes, risk factors, prevention and treatment of the diseas

Maternal-fetal Rhesus (Rh) factor incompatibility in Arar, northern Saudi Arabia

Background and aim: Rh isoimmunization still contributes to the neonatal morbidity and mortality due to nonimmunization, under-immunization, and in rare cases, false Rh typing. The main objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of Rh incompatibility, mothers’ knowledge about Rh incompatibility, mothers’ knowledge about anti-D immunoglobulin and to show the pregnancy outcome of Rh negative mothers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out at the Maternity and Children Hospital in Arar city from November 2016 to May 2017. All pregnant mothers attending the Maternity and Children Hospital for pregnancy follow up or delivery, during the study period were studied. Data were collected by means of personal interview with the sampled population using a researcher-made questionnaire covering the needed data. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 16, using descriptive statistics and Chi-Square test. Results: Of the studied mothers, 23% were Rh negative. Only 38% of the studied mothers had knowledge about Rh incompatibility, 68.5% had knowledge about anti-D and 51% had knowledge about time of administration of anti D. Considering pregnancy outcome; 55% of the delivered babies needed incubation after delivery, 23.3% of those babies were born to Rh negative mothers. However, 6.7% of the incubated children died after incubation (47.8% of them belong to Rh negative mothers). Conclusion: About a quarter of the mothers in the studied population were Rh negative. Mothers had a low level of knowledge about Rh incompatibility and anti-D immunoglobulin and its administration. Health education sittings are needed to increase public awareness about this important issu