A population-based study of 15,000 people on Knowledge and awareness of lung cancer symptoms and risk factors in Saudi Arabia

Background: Lung cancer is currently the most fatal form of cancer worldwide, ranking as the fourth most prevalent type in Saudi Arabia, particularly among males. This trend is expected to increase with growing population, lifestyle changes, and aging population. Understanding the awareness of the Saudi population regarding the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer is necessary to attenuate the predicted increase in cases. Method: A cross-sectional, population-based survey was performed using a previously validated questionnaire (Lung CAM). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess variables associated with deficiency in knowledge and awareness of risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer. Results: Majority of the 15,099 respondents were male (65%), aged between 18 and 30 years (53%), 50% of which were educated up to a bachelor’s degree level. Overall awareness of lung cancer signs and symptoms was 53%, with painful cough and coughing up blood being the best-known symptoms. Conversely, persistent shoulder pain (44%) and clubbing fingers (47%) were the least known lung cancer symptoms. Also, 60% of the respondents showed low confidence in identifying the signs and symptoms of lung cancer. The overall awareness of the risk factors for lung cancer development was 74%, with first-hand (74%) and second-hand (68%) smoking being the most known risk factors. However, only ≤ 62% know the other non-smoking risk factors. Awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer depended on age, gender, education, marital and employment status (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Public awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer in Saudi Arabia is inadequate and heavily dependent on education and socio-economic status. Awareness can be improved through campaigns to raise awareness about other lesser-known lung cancer risk factors and symptoms

A population-based study of 15,000 people on Knowledge and awareness of lung cancer symptoms and risk factors in Saudi Arabia

Background: Lung cancer is currently the most fatal form of cancer worldwide, ranking as the fourth most prevalent type in Saudi Arabia, particularly among males. This trend is expected to increase with growing population, lifestyle changes, and aging population. Understanding the awareness of the Saudi population regarding the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer is necessary to attenuate the predicted increase in cases. Method: A cross-sectional, population-based survey was performed using a previously validated questionnaire (Lung CAM). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess variables associated with deficiency in knowledge and awareness of risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer. Results: Majority of the 15,099 respondents were male (65%), aged between 18 and 30 years (53%), 50% of which were educated up to a bachelor’s degree level. Overall awareness of lung cancer signs and symptoms was 53%, with painful cough and coughing up blood being the best-known symptoms. Conversely, persistent shoulder pain (44%) and clubbing fingers (47%) were the least known lung cancer symptoms. Also, 60% of the respondents showed low confidence in identifying the signs and symptoms of lung cancer. The overall awareness of the risk factors for lung cancer development was 74%, with first-hand (74%) and second-hand (68%) smoking being the most known risk factors. However, only ≤ 62% know the other non-smoking risk factors. Awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer depended on age, gender, education, marital and employment status (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Public awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer in Saudi Arabia is inadequate and heavily dependent on education and socio-economic status. Awareness can be improved through campaigns to raise awareness about other lesser-known lung cancer risk factors and symptoms

Burnout among surgeons before and during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: an international survey

Background: SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has had many significant impacts within the surgical realm, and surgeons have been obligated to reconsider almost every aspect of daily clinical practice. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study reported in compliance with the CHERRIES guidelines and conducted through an online platform from June 14th to July 15th, 2020. The primary outcome was the burden of burnout during the pandemic indicated by the validated Shirom-Melamed Burnout Measure. Results: Nine hundred fifty-four surgeons completed the survey. The median length of practice was 10 years; 78.2% included were male with a median age of 37 years old, 39.5% were consultants, 68.9% were general surgeons, and 55.7% were affiliated with an academic institution. Overall, there was a significant increase in the mean burnout score during the pandemic; longer years of practice and older age were significantly associated with less burnout. There were significant reductions in the median number of outpatient visits, operated cases, on-call hours, emergency visits, and research work, so, 48.2% of respondents felt that the training resources were insufficient. The majority (81.3%) of respondents reported that their hospitals were included in the management of COVID-19, 66.5% felt their roles had been minimized; 41% were asked to assist in non-surgical medical practices, and 37.6% of respondents were included in COVID-19 management. Conclusions: There was a significant burnout among trainees. Almost all aspects of clinical and research activities were affected with a significant reduction in the volume of research, outpatient clinic visits, surgical procedures, on-call hours, and emergency cases hindering the training. Trial registration: The study was registered on clicaltrials.gov "NCT04433286" on 16/06/2020

Investigation on New Metaheuristic Algorithms for Solving Dynamic Combined Economic Environmental Dispatch Problems

In this paper, the dynamic combined economic environmental dispatch problems (DCEED) with variable real transmission losses are tackled using four metaheuristics techniques. Due to the consideration of the valve-point loading effects (VPE), DCEED have become a non-smooth and more complex optimization problem. The seagull optimization algorithm (SOA), crow search algorithm (CSA), tunicate swarm algorithm (TSA), and firefly algorithm (FFA), as both nature and biologic phenomena-based algorithms, are investigated to solve DCEED problems. Our proposed algorithms, SOA, TSA, and FFA, were evaluated and applied on the IEEE five-unit test system, and the effectiveness of the proposed CSA approach was applied on two-unit, five-unit, and ten-unit systems by considering VPE. We defined CSA for different objective functions, such as cost of production, emission, and CEED, by considering VPE. The obtained results reveal the efficiency and robustness of the CSA compared to SOA, TSA, FFA, and to other optimization algorithms reported recently in the literature. In addition, Matlab simulation results show the advantages of the proposed approaches for solving DCEED problems

Investigation on New Metaheuristic Algorithms for Solving Dynamic Combined Economic Environmental Dispatch Problems

In this paper, the dynamic combined economic environmental dispatch problems (DCEED) with variable real transmission losses are tackled using four metaheuristics techniques. Due to the consideration of the valve-point loading effects (VPE), DCEED have become a non-smooth and more complex optimization problem. The seagull optimization algorithm (SOA), crow search algorithm (CSA), tunicate swarm algorithm (TSA), and firefly algorithm (FFA), as both nature and biologic phenomena-based algorithms, are investigated to solve DCEED problems. Our proposed algorithms, SOA, TSA, and FFA, were evaluated and applied on the IEEE five-unit test system, and the effectiveness of the proposed CSA approach was applied on two-unit, five-unit, and ten-unit systems by considering VPE. We defined CSA for different objective functions, such as cost of production, emission, and CEED, by considering VPE. The obtained results reveal the efficiency and robustness of the CSA compared to SOA, TSA, FFA, and to other optimization algorithms reported recently in the literature. In addition, Matlab simulation results show the advantages of the proposed approaches for solving DCEED problems

DataSheet_1_A population-based study of 15,000 people on Knowledge and awareness of lung cancer symptoms and risk factors in Saudi Arabia.pdf

BackgroundLung cancer is currently the most fatal form of cancer worldwide, ranking as the fourth most prevalent type in Saudi Arabia, particularly among males. This trend is expected to increase with growing population, lifestyle changes, and aging population. Understanding the awareness of the Saudi population regarding the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer is necessary to attenuate the predicted increase in cases.MethodA cross-sectional, population-based survey was performed using a previously validated questionnaire (Lung CAM). Multiple linear regression analysis was used to assess variables associated with deficiency in knowledge and awareness of risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer.ResultsMajority of the 15,099 respondents were male (65%), aged between 18 and 30 years (53%), 50% of which were educated up to a bachelor’s degree level. Overall awareness of lung cancer signs and symptoms was 53%, with painful cough and coughing up blood being the best-known symptoms. Conversely, persistent shoulder pain (44%) and clubbing fingers (47%) were the least known lung cancer symptoms. Also, 60% of the respondents showed low confidence in identifying the signs and symptoms of lung cancer. The overall awareness of the risk factors for lung cancer development was 74%, with first-hand (74%) and second-hand (68%) smoking being the most known risk factors. However, only ≤ 62% know the other non-smoking risk factors. Awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer depended on age, gender, education, marital and employment status (p ConclusionPublic awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of lung cancer in Saudi Arabia is inadequate and heavily dependent on education and socio-economic status. Awareness can be improved through campaigns to raise awareness about other lesser-known lung cancer risk factors and symptoms.</p