Background: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects young children in social relatedness and communication besides other characteristics. A community’s awareness and early intervention services in diagnosing and treating autistic children are essential for preventing the expected complications, eg language delay, social interaction, and intellectual ability. Aim: To assess the parent’s knowledge and perceptions regarding autism and its associated clinical features and effects. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted targeting all available parents aged 18 years or more living in Aseer region. Data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire from randomly selected parents who attended outpatient clinics at Abha Maternity and Children Hospital and Aseer Central Hospital. Parents’ knowledge regarding autism was assessed covering general knowledge, clinical features, social effects, consequences, and curability. Results: A total of 477 parents participated. Parents’ ages ranged from 18 to 85 years. 261 (54.7%) parents were male and 216 (45.3%) were females. Nearly 65.6% of parents were university graduates and 28.3% had a secondary level of education. About 50.9% of the parents know that genetics play a major role in causing autism, 69.6% think that most children with autism have special talents or abilities, 64.2% know that delayed language development is one of the main symptoms of autism, 61.2% also know that repetitive movements of the hands and head are a common symptom of autism. About 36.9% of parents think that diagnosing a child with autism will lead to discrimination against the child, 33.3% of parents think that autism is a rare condition in this country compared to the West. Conclusion: The study showed that parents had poor knowledge levels regarding autism and its related clinical features, especially male parents with low levels of education. On the other hand, their perception of the disease and its frequency in the study area was satisfactory.

Choosing a future medical speciality is considered one of the most critical challenges for undergraduate students worldwide. The present study assessed the influences and factors related to medical students career choices in Saudi Arabia. The study was designed in a cross-sectional manner to collect data from all undergraduate medical students and interns in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for 5 months, starting from September 2021 and ending in January 2022. The questionnaire was completed by 1725 medical students and interns aged 18 to 30 with a mean age of 24.2 ± 4.6 years, and 64.6% were females. In all, 50.4% of respondents reported that they had received advice from others on their chosen speciality, and 89% of respondents indicated that they were interested in working in a specialized field after graduation. The most influencing factors for choosing medical specialities are job safety, creative ability, dealing with a variety of patients and monthly income (69.6%, 63.7%, 62.4%, 58.9%), respectively. Additionally, the study showed that gender plays a significant role (P = .001) for medical students and interns in their choice of speciality, whereas pediatrics was the top choice for female students (12%), and medicine was the most popular choice for male students (14.1%). A student’s lower grade point average, the lower average monthly income of their family, lack of working relative in the healthcare field and absence of advice about future specialities are all significant predictors for stopping specialities endeavor. Our study concluded that students career choices depend on different factors, including gender based preferences and that their specialized preferences did not change considerably prior to or after graduation. Further studies are required to analyze the factors influencing student and intern speciality preferences in their early clinical and career years.

Background: Use of different social media platforms has increased radically over the past decade, emerging as an important part of adolescents and young people’s everyday life. This might exert potential adverse effects on sleep quality and daytime performance of young adults. Aim of Study: To assess the relation between use of social media platforms and sleep quality among public secondary school students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 961 students in Aseer region, Saudi Arabia. Students were asked to fill in a structured interview questionnaire covering personal data, pattern of social media use, sleep quality using The Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and their mental health status using the depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21). Results: Students’ ages ranged from 15 to 20 years with a mean age of 16.7 ± 2.1 years old. A total of 570 (59.3%) students were females. Tiktok (80%), Snapchat (77.9%), Instagram (63.8%) and YouTube (58.8%) were the most reported platforms used. Regarding their sleep quality, 34.7% of students were poor sleepers. TikTok use (OR 1.33, 95% CI 1.01– 1.77), hours spent on social media (OR 1.26, 95% CI 1.16– 1.37) and having moderate to severe depressive symptoms (OR 1.69, 95% CI 1.19– 2.40) were significant independent predictors of poor sleep among the studied sample. Conclusion: The present study emphasized the association between prolonged use of social media and poor sleep quality among Saudi adolescents. Awareness and behavioral change strategies and activities concerning the drawbacks of poor sleep and proper use of social media are urgently called for to control mental and physical health consequences of poor sleep and social media addiction.

Background: Chronic kidney disease patients on haemodialysis (HD) experience negative consequences in the quality of life (QOL), which is affected by factors such as perceived social support and spirituality/religiosity. The purpose of the study was to assess perceived social support, religiosity, and QOL among HD patients in Aseer, Saudi Arabia. Results: A total of 162 HD patients were included in the study. Patient ages ranged from 18 to 64 years with mean age 44.6 ± 11.9. Duration of HD was <5 years among 41.4% of patients, and ≥10 years in 21%. Perceived social support was high among 79.6% of patients. Religiosity score ranged from 26 to 52 (out of 65) with mean score 36.6 ± 5.2. There was a significant correlation between perceived social support, religiosity, and the life satisfaction domain of QOL (P<0.05). Conclusions: High perceived social support alongside high religiosity had a significant effect on patients’ life satisfaction domain of health-related QOL (HRQOL). Therefore, social support and religiosity assessment are important in HD patient care. Further studies should assess the benefit of religious/spiritual counselling as part of a holistic multi-disciplinary approach.

Introduction: Vaccines are an important part of the COVID-19 pandemic response plan. This study was undertaken to find out the percentage of supporters in the Saudi population for COVID-19 vaccination among children, and to assess the study population’s perceptions towards COVID-19 vaccination among children. Material and Methods: This nationwide study adopted a cross-sectional survey of adult participants, conducted by trained medical students. The anonymous questionnaire was published on social media tools. Statistical analysis was conducted using two-tailed tests. Results: Six hundred and twenty (620) participants were recruited for this study. Nearly 17.0% of participants had a chronic health problem/comorbidity. About 28.7% of the study participants reported having COVID-19 infection. The COVID-19 vaccine was received among 94.7% of the study respondents. The majority of the vaccination supporters (89.0%) wanted to get the third dose. There was a statistically significant association between the participant’s attitudes towards getting vaccinated themselves, and their attitude towards children’s vaccination. Vaccine newness, as a reason for hesitating to get vaccinated, was most reported among non-vaccine supporters. False religious beliefs were found to significantly influence the opposing attitude towards children’s vaccination. Conclusion: Health professionals and policy makers should implement and support strategies to ensure children are vaccinated against COVID-19. They also need to educate parents and families regarding the importance of vaccination against COVID-19.

The South African Journal of Psychiatry publishes topical content in psychiatry for clinical practice and academic pursuits, including work in the subspecialty areas of psychiatry.