Background: Although the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is rising sharply in Saudi Arabia, data on glycemic control, crucial to reducing diabetes mellitus complications, remain scarce. This study therefore investigated glycemic control status and the factors influencing poor glycemic control among adult T2DM patients in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This cross-sectional study examined 423 T2DM patients at a diabetic center in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia between September 2016 and July 2017. Glycemic levels were measured via fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels, and “poor glycemic control” was defined as FBG >130 mg/dL. Poor glycemic control’s risk factors were identified using a logistic regression. Results: In the sample, 74.9% of the patients had poor blood glycemic control. Logistic regression revealed that T2DM patients had an increased chance of poorly controlled diabetes if they had family histories of diabetes (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] =7.38, 95% CI 4.09–13.31), longer diabetic durations (AOR =2.33, 95% CI 1.14–4.78 for 5–10 years and AOR =5.19, 95% CI 2.50–10.69 for >10 years), insufficient physical exercise (AOR =19.02, 95% CI 6.23–58.06), or were overweight (AOR =3.79, 95% CI 2.00–7.18), or obese (AOR =5.35, 95% CI 2.72–12.59). Conclusion: A high proportion of the sampled patients had poor glycemic control, therefore, health care professionals should manage the associated risk factors to limit disease complications and improve the health of patients with diabetes.

Background: Breastfeeding supplies all the nutrients that infants need for their healthy development. Breastfeeding practice is multifactorial, and numerous variables influence mothers’ decisions and ability to breastfeed. This review identifies the factors potentially affecting the timely initiation of breastfeeding within an hour after birth and exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months in Middle Eastern countries. Methods: The Medline, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science databases were keyword-searched for primary studies meeting the following inclusion criteria: (1) publication in the English language between January 2001 and May 2017, (2) original research articles reporting primary data on the factors influencing the timely initiation of breastfeeding and/or exclusive breastfeeding, (3) the use of World Health Organization definitions, and (4) Middle Eastern research contexts. A random effect model was used to establish the average prevalence of the timely initiation of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding in the Middle East. Results: The review identified 19 studies conducted in Saudi Arabia (7), Iran (3), Egypt (2), Turkey (2), Kuwait (1), the United Arab Emirates (1), Qatar (1), Lebanon (1), and Syria (1). The meta-analysis established that 34.3% (confidence interval [CI]: 20.2%-51.9%) of Middle Eastern newborns received breastfeeding initiated within an hour of birth, and only 20.5% (CI: 14.5%-28.2%) were fed only breast milk for the first 6 months. The 8 studies exploring breastfeeding initiation most commonly associated it with the following: delivery mode, maternal employment, rooming-in, and prelacteal feeding. The 17 studies investigating exclusive breastfeeding most frequently linked it to the following: maternal age, maternal education, maternal employment, and delivery mode. Conclusions: Middle Eastern health care organizations should fully understand all the determinants of breastfeeding identified by this review to provide suitable practical guidance and advice to help new mothers to overcome barriers where possible and to contribute to improving infant and maternal health in the region.

Internet of Things (IoT) technology has recently been applied in healthcare systems as an Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) to collect sensor information for the diagnosis and prognosis of heart disease. The main objective of the proposed research is to classify data and predict heart disease using medical data and medical images. The proposed model is a medical data classification and prediction model that operates in two stages. If the result from the first stage is efficient in predicting heart disease, there is no need for stage two. In the first stage, data gathered from medical sensors affixed to the patient’s body were classified; then, in stage two, echocardiogram image classification was performed for heart disease prediction. A hybrid linear discriminant analysis with the modified ant lion optimization (HLDA-MALO) technique was used for sensor data classification, while a hybrid Faster R-CNN with SE-ResNet-101 modelwass used for echocardiogram image classification. Both classification methods were carried out, and the classification findings were consolidated and validated to predict heart disease. The HLDA-MALO method obtained 96.85% accuracy in detecting normal sensor data, and 98.31% accuracy in detecting abnormal sensor data. The proposed hybrid Faster R-CNN with SE-ResNeXt-101 transfer learning model performed better in classifying echocardiogram images, with 98.06% precision, 98.95% recall, 96.32% specificity, a 99.02% F-score, and maximum accuracy of 99.15%.

Background: Breast milk contains all the nutrients infants need for their first 6 months of life. However, only a minority of Saudi Arabian mothers exclusively breastfeed, so the influencing factors must be examined to encourage more to do so. The study aimed to determine the prevalence of exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months and its associated factors in Tabuk, North West Saudi Arabia. Methods: A total of 589 mothers of healthy infants aged between 6 and 24 months were interviewed while attending Well-Baby Clinics within 5 primary health care centers. Interviews deployed a structured questionnaire to collect sociodemographic information and detailed data concerning breastfeeding practices. A logistic regression analysis was then performed on the data to identify the factors independently associated with exclusive breastfeeding practice for infants at 6 months. Results: Exclusive breastfeeding was practiced by 31.4% of mothers for the first 6 months of their infant’s life. The logistic regressions indicated that exclusive breastfeeding at 6 months was less likely to be practiced by working mothers, Saudi nationals, and for babies born via cesarean delivery or at low birth weights. Conversely, the mother’s awareness of the recommended exclusive breastfeeding duration was positively associated with exclusive breastfeeding. Conclusions: Programs promoting 6 months of exclusive breastfeeding should target high-risk groups. Two factors identified by this study are modifiable: working mothers and mothers’ awareness of the exclusive breastfeeding duration recommendation. Strategies to improve exclusive breastfeeding rates should therefore focus on workplace facilities and increasing awareness of the exclusive breastfeeding recommendation.

Ripe date fruits contain phenolic compounds which possess a high antioxidant activity. The current review was carried out to evaluate total phenolic content in ripe date fruits. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) was followed during the review process. Relevant studies published from inception up to March 2019 were retrieved from three databases. Study selection was performed based on specific inclusion criteria. A total of twenty-two articles were selected and included in the present review. Data collected from these studies were organized, pooled, and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Total phenolic content means and medians have been reported for the collected ripe date fruit samples for each included study and pooled data. The results suggested that ripe date fruits contain a potent total phenolic content that can contribute mainly to their antioxidant properties.

Background: Prior data on iron deficiency anemia’s (IDA) prevalence and associated risk factors among female university students are scarce in the Saudi Arabian context. This study therefore recruited a sample of female students at the University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, to investigate IDA prevalence and risk factors and fill the identified research gap. Methods: A cross-sectional study of 200 apparently healthy female students aged between 19 and 25 years was performed between February and June 2016. Data on the participants’ sociodemographics, diet, health, anthropometry, and hematological and biochemical iron status indices were gathered. A logistic regression analysis then revealed the IDA risk factors. Results: The IDA prevalence was 12.5%. The factors associated via logistic regression with an elevated anemia risk were inadequate iron and vitamin C intakes, infrequent (≤2 times per week) consumption of red meat, frequent (≥2 times per week) tea consumption, and a past personal history of IDA. Conclusions: The findings suggest that focused education and awareness strategies are needed to improve nutritional habits by encouraging the consumption of rich dietary iron sources and by raising awareness of the food and drinks which facilitate or hinder the bioavailability of iron.