Background: Obesity is a risk factor that leads to many chronic diseases and, unfortunately, its prevalence in Saudi Arabia is on the rise. To successfully manage obesity and its complications, patient must be accurately diagnosed. This study aims to investigate the diagnostic accuracy of body mass index (BMI) when diagnosing obesity within the Saudi population using body fat percentage (BF%) as the gold standard. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that includes a calculated sample size of 942 subjects. Subjects were recruited from family medicine clinics that were linked to King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre (KFSH&RC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January 2005 to March 2016. BF% was estimated using DEXA scan. The diagnostic accuracy of BMI was assessed by using the WHO and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and American College of Endocrinology (AACE/ACE) reference standard for obesity of BF% > 25% in men and > 35% for women. Results: Findings indicate, out of the study population, 29% of men and 53% of women are obese using BMI-defined obesity cut-off point 30 kg/m². The prevalence of obesity was 83.9% and 97.3% in men and women, respectively, using BF%-defined obesity, which corresponds to BMI cut-off of 24 kg/m². Even when considering the highest acceptable BF% based on the mean age of our participants (33% for men and 43% for women), the BMI cut-off to diagnose obesity should not exceed 27 kg/m² among men and women in Saudi Arabia. Conclusion: The accuracy of BMI 30 kg/m² to diagnose obesity among the Saudi population is limited. We have to lower the BMI cut-off point to improve its sensitivity as a screening tool for obesity. Our study suggests that the BMI cut-off point among Saudis and possibly the Arab population should not exceed 27 kg/m² for both sexes.

Non-therapeutic infant male circumcision. Evidence, ethics, and international law perspectives

Background: Obesity is a significant risk factor for multiple diseases such as diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular diseases. Many healthcare organizations worldwide have identified a high prevalence of obesity among their employees. In this study, we are looking at the prevalence of obesity among the employees of our healthcare organization and its impact on the employees' productivity and if its current prevalence is costly to the employer. Methods: This is a non-interventional cross-sectional study conducted at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Data on the current employees were obtained from medical records. We investigated a random sample of employees who worked in the hospital for at least one year between January 1, 2021 and January 1, 2022. We explored the prevalence of obesity among hospital employees at the beginning of their employment and its current prevalence. In addition, we aimed to investigate the effect of having employees suffering from obesity on their productivity and their utilization of healthcare during their employment period. Results: We identified that our hospital has relatively younger healthcare workers and more employees who are suffering from obesity than in different other countries. The percentage of obese male and female employees was comparable. We had a relatively high increase in the prevalence of obesity among our employees during the last few years. We found a higher number of obesity-related medical problems, more office visits, more sick leaves, and more medications prescribed for overweight and employees who are suffering from obesity compared to those with normal weight. Conclusion: Healthcare workers suffering from obesity had lower productivity and they had higher utilization of healthcare. Therefore, employers should investigate the prevalence of obesity in their organization and implement diverse strategies to prevent and manage this issue to help their employees have better health and, at the same time, be more productive and lower their utilization of healthcare.

Frequent sick leaves in any healthcare organization is a critical problem that can undermine the patients' care through increasing the workload on other co-workers and costing the organization a lot of money. This is a quantitative cross-sectional study looking at the frequency of sick leaves among employees of a large, tertiary healthcare facility in Riyadh. We randomly selected 474 employees, who were seen in family medicine clinics during a one-year period. We collected all the data retrospectively from their electronic medical records. Then we reviewed and analyzed all the data using SPSS software version 26.0 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). There was no difference in the sick leaves rate between males and females (p-value = 0.8618), but we saw a higher rate among younger employees (40 years old or less) compared to those 41 years or older (p-value <0.0001). We also investigated those who took four sick leaves or more during the period of the study, and we found that majority of them were nursing staff (31.71%), hospital assistances (24.39%) and housekeepers (14.63%). The commonest cause for taking sick leave in our study was viral upper respiratory tract infection (VURTI). Therefore, we studied the effect of influenza vaccine on the frequency of sick leaves and we found that those who took the vaccine were less likely to take a leave because of flu (p-value <0.0001, odds ratio 0.4067 with 95% CI: 0.2739-0.608). Younger employees, nurses, hospital assistants and housekeepers are more likely to take sick leaves. Flu is the leading cause of sick leaves and influenza vaccine seemed to reduce its rate. In this study, we also discussed different methods that can be used by any healthcare organization to reduce the absence rate. Further studies are required to better manage the issue of excessive sick leaves.

BACKGROUND : Frequent sick leaves in any healthcare organization is a critical problem that can undermine the patients' care. METHODS : This is a quantitative cross-sectional study looking at the frequency of sick leaves among employees of a large, tertiary healthcare facility in Riyadh. We randomly selected 474 employees, who were seen in family medicine clinics during one-year period. We collected all the data retrospectively from their electronic medical records. Then we reviewed and analyzed all the data using SPSS software. RESULTS : There was no difference in the sick leaves rate between males and females (P-value 0.8618), but we saw a higher rate among younger employees (40 years old or less) compared to those 41 years or older (p-value <0.0001). We also investigated those who took four sick leaves or more during the period of the study, and we found that most of them were mainly nursing staff (31.71%), hospital assistances (24.39%) and housekeepers (14.63%). The commonest cause for taking sick leave in our study was viral upper respiratory tract infection. Therefore, we studied the effect of influenza vaccine on the frequency of sick leaves and we found that those who took the vaccine were less likely to take a leave because of flu (P-value <0.0001, Odd ratio 0.4067 with 95% CI 0.2739-0.608). CONCLUSION : younger employees, nurses, hospital assistants and housekeepers are more likely to take sick leaves. These findings need to be studied further in the future to help us dealing with the problem of absenteeism. Flu is the leading cause for sick leaves and influenza vaccine seemed to reduce its rate. In this study, we also discussed different methods that can be used by any healthcare organization to reduce absence rate.