Background: Better parental knowledge about developmental milestones of children is linked to better parent–child interaction. Only a handful of surveys have been conducted to evaluate parental knowledge of developme ntal milestones in Arabic-speaking countries. Materials and Methods: The study is a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based observational investigation using a simple random sampling scheme. The sampling frame consisted of all parents attending the family medicine services during the period of conduct of the study. Poisson regression modelling techniques were used to analyse the adjusted effect of sociodemographic factors on knowledge score. Results: Three hundred and seventy-five parents agreed to be included in the study. Only 29 (7.7%) had an excellent knowledge level. Poor knowledge was found among 141 (37.6%) participants. Also, 180 (48%) participants were found to have an acceptable level of knowledge. Mothers achieved acceptable knowledge of developmental milestones better than fathers, and better knowledge was found in less-crowded houses. Physical developmental milestones were known by 304 (81.1%) participants, followed by cognitive development milestones (n = 78, 20.8%), social development milestones (n = 47, 12.5%) and emotional development milestones (n = 85, 22.7%). The internet was the most used source (n = 83, 22.1%). The most avoided sources were educational workshops (n = 230, 61.3%), followed by doctors (n = 159, 42.4%) and social media (n = 130, 34.7%). Conclusions: We confirmed in this work that parental knowledge of children’s developmental milestones is suboptimum among Saudi parents. Use of the internet and avoidance of healthcare professionals is a source of concern. Care is required for children coming from overcrowded homes in terms of their developmental progress. Focus should be on educating parents about the social and emotional developmental milestones.

Background: Pregnant women can get infected with COVID-19 with serious sequelae to them and their fetus. Concerns about COVID-19 vaccination safety to mothers and babies, and doubts about its effectiveness, have hindered vaccine acceptance throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The objective of the current investigation was to estimate COVID-19 acceptance rates among pregnant women in Abha city, Aseer region, Saudi Arabia, and determine its clinical and demographic correlates. Method: Descriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey of a sample of pregnant women attending regular antenatal care services in Abha. We used backward stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis to evaluate the predictability of vaccine acceptance in terms of baseline clinical and demographic factors. Results: The survey included 572 pregnant women. The prevalence of acceptance of COVID-19 vaccine was high (93.7%; 95%CI: 91.7–95.7%). University graduates and women with a later gestational age were more likely to accept vaccination (OR = 6.120, p = 0.009), (t = 2.163, p = 0.036), respectively. Confidence in vaccine safety was associated with better acceptance (OR = 3.431, p = 0.001). Conclusions: The acceptance rate for vaccination among pregnant women in Abha, Saudi Arabia, is higher compared to international rate. However, our results indicate that confidence in vaccine safety was associated with better acceptance. Hence, vaccine safety was the overarching predictor for harboring positive attitudes towards it. Public health policies should capitalize on such positive attitudes and aim for total coverage of pregnant women with COVID-19 vaccination including booster dosages.

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders with a huge impact on the physical and psychological well-being of the individuals affected. Unwanted behavioral practices regarding epilepsy emergencies result in poor management, costly clinical interventions, and frequent unnecessary visits to the emergency departments. We aimed at conducting a large-scale investigation of behavioral practices, beliefs, and perceptions regarding epilepsy first aid measures among the Saudi public. This is a descriptive questionnaire-based cross-sectional study of the general public residing in the Southwestern region of Aseer in Saudi Arabia. The study included 1230 participants. There were about 70.4% shows good knowledge about epilepsy and 74.2% with good knowledge about epilepsy first-aid. About 87.1% reported that they know what epilepsy really is, and nearly 38.1% know somebody diagnosed with epilepsy. Only 25.4 sought doctors for epilepsy-related knowledge. About 16.7% thought spirit possession to be the aetiology for epilepsy and about 14.1% believed that evil eye was the cause. In terms of the adjusted impact for background factors on epilepsy knowledge, high education, attending seminars, or getting information from doctors was associated with a better knowledge score. However, housewives were less knowledgeable in terms of epilepsy-related knowledge. We uncovered in our present investigation the upward trend for behavioral practices regarding epilepsy during the last few years among the Saudi public. We noted that behavioral practices and knowledge levels about epilepsy were far better among highly educated graduates. One concerning finding is the huge reliance on media for information about epilepsy. The media may not be the ideal channel for the dissemination of health-wise information about epilepsy. Our study results showed that there was a very low level of first-hand experience of knowing some acquaintances living with epilepsy, likely because of stigma. Spirit possession and evil-eye beliefs are embedded in the Saudi culture. It was notable that 25% and 19% of minorities reported getting information about epilepsy from doctors and seminars, respectively. These were the two groups with the highest adjustable knowledge score though. Knowledge about first aid for epilepsy was satisfactory in several aspects. Sadly, housewives were less knowledgeable in terms of epilepsy-related knowledge than other categories of employment. Public healthcare facilities should be more proactive. Health education should be provided to the general public using simple and understandable language to help improve knowledge and attitudes towards epilepsy and all related chronic illnesses.

Aim: To examine breast cancer perception, health-promoting lifestyle behaviours, and screening practices, and their sociodemographic and psychosocial correlates, among women in Abha, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional survey of 1,002 women aged ≥18 years in Abha (May–December 2025), recruited online through social media and instant messaging. Validated Arabic versions of the Breast Cancer Perception Scale (BCPS) and HPLP-II were self-administered online, with self-reported breast self-examination (BSE), clinical breast examination (CBE), and mammography history. Multiple linear regression identified predictors of HPLP-II and BCPS scores. Results: Perceived knowledge (3.64 ± 1.05), treatment belief (3.43 ± 0.77), fear (3.25 ± 1.30), and perceived risk (3.40 ± 0.89) were moderately high; perceived need for health checks (2.78 ± 1.23) and stigma (2.89 ± 1.14) were lower. HPLP-II mean was 2.63 ± 0.46 (spiritual growth highest 2.96 ± 0.50; physical ac-tivity lowest 2.23 ± 0.60). Ever-screening: BSE 61.1% (95% CI 58.1–64.1), CBE 22.5% (95% CI 20.0–25.1), mammography 12.8% (95% CI 10.8–14.8). Perceived knowledge (β = 0.059), treatment belief (β = 0.120), and stigma (β = 0.058) were positively, and perceived need for health checks (β = −0.259), perceived risk (β = −0.130), and fear (β = −0.028) negatively, associated with HPLP-II. Married women had higher lifestyle and perception scores; more educated and publicly employed women had higher perception scores. Conclusion: Despite moderately high perceived knowledge, clinical screening particularly mammography remains very low, and physical activity, a modifiable breast cancer risk factor, is the weakest lifestyle do-main. Awareness alone does not translate into screening; interventions should address fear and symptom-contingent care-seeking, embed screening referral in primary care, involve families, and promote culturally appropriate physical activity.

The Asian Journal of Pharmaceutics is a peer-reviewed open-access medical journal published by Medknow Publications on behalf of the B.R. Nahata Smriti Sansthan (Memorial Trust) (Mandsaur, India). Articles address topics in pharmaceutics, biopharmaceutics, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacognosy, pharmacology, pharmaceutical analysis, pharmacy practice, and clinical and hospital pharmacy.

Background: Effective communication improves patient-physician relationship and the overall quality of care. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate communication skills of resident physicians at different health care facilities in Abha, Saudi Arabia.Methods: A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study on a total of 210 resident doctors.Results: The communication skills scores were nearly normally distributed with a mean score of 113.30 ± 32.25.In comparing the skills by various socio-demographic factors, it was noted that gender and age played a significant role in specific communication skills. There was significant difference in mean scores of younger and older physicians in domains of interpretation and clarification (p < 0.001), asking (p < 0.001), feedback (p < 0.01), punishment and reward skills (p < 0.001). In asking skills, there was significant difference in mean scores of male and females (p < 0.001). Residents in the specialty of Internal Medicine had significantly higher scores than other specialties (CI 95% = 107.74–127.07; p < 0.001). Fifth-year residents had significantly higher scores than those of other levels (CI 95% =123.94-142.05; p < 0.001). Residents with more than one year of experience after the basic degree had significantly higher scores than residents with lesser experience (CI 95% = 123.76–137.68; p < 0.001). Residents who had taken training in communication skills had higher scores than those who had no prior training (CI 95% = 112.78-124.48; p = 0.07). Conclusion:The resident physicians are lacking in communication skills. Results of this study point towards a lingering need to focus on training of physicians in effective communication and efforts should be made to include it as a core competency in medical curriculum.