Addiction to smartphone usage is a common worldwide problem among adults, which might negatively affect their wellbeing. This study investigated the prevalence and factors associated with smartphone addiction and depression among a Middle Eastern population. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2017 using a web-based questionnaire distributed via social media. Responses to the Smartphone Addiction Scale - Short version (10-items) were rated on a 6-point Likert scale, and their percentage mean score (PMS) was commuted. Responses to Beck’s Depression Inventory (20-items) were summated (range 0–60); their mean score (MS) was commuted and categorized. Higher scores indicated higher levels of addiction and depression. Factors associated with these outcomes were identified using descriptive and regression analyses. Statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Complete questionnaires were 935/1120 (83.5%), of which 619 (66.2%) were females and 316 (33.8%) were males. The mean ± standard deviation of their age was 31.7 ± 11 years. Majority of participants obtained university education 766 (81.9%), while 169 (18.1%) had school education. The PMS of addiction was 50.2 ± 20.3, and MS of depression was 13.6 ± 10.0. A significant positive linear relationship was present between smart phone addiction and depression (y = 39.2 + 0.8×; P < 0.001). Significantly higher smartphone addiction scores were associated with younger age users, (β = − 0.203, adj. P = 0.004). Factors associated with higher depression scores were school educated users (β = − 2.03, adj. P = 0.01) compared to the university educated group and users with higher smart phone addiction scores (β =0.194, adj. P < 0.001). The positive correlation between smartphone addiction and depression is alarming. Reasonable usage of smart phones is advised, especially among younger adults and less educated users who could be at higher risk of depression.

Purpose: In Saudi Arabia, the health system is mainly staffed by expatriate nurses from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Given the potential risks this situation poses for patient care, it is important to understand how cultural diversity can be effectively managed in this multicultural environment. The purpose of this study was to explore notions of cultural competence with non-Saudi Arabian nurses working in a major hospital in Saudi Arabia. Design: Face-to-face, audio-recorded, semistructured interviews were conducted with 24 non-Saudi Arabian nurses. Deductive data collection and analysis were undertaken drawing on Campinha-Bacote’s cultural competence model. The data that could not be explained by this model were coded and analyzed inductively. Findings: Nurses within this culturally diverse environment struggled with the notion of cultural competence in terms of each other’s cultural expectations and those of the dominant Saudi culture. Discussion: The study also addressed the limitations of Campinha-Bacote’s model, which did not account for all of the nurses’ experiences. Subsequent inductive analysis yielded important themes that more fully explained the nurses’ experiences in this environment. Implications for Practice: The findings can inform policy, professional education, and practice in the multicultural Saudi setting.

Background: It has been reported that the majority of individuals with mental illnesses (MIs) do not seek help. Few studies have focused on correlates of a positive attitude toward professional help-seeking for MI. This study aimed to determine levels of knowledge, perception, and attitudes toward MI, determine attitudes toward mental health help-seeking, and identify sociodemographic predictors of correct knowledge and favorable attitudes among the Saudi public. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted on 650 Saudi adults aged >18 years who attended the Saudi Jenadriyah annual cultural and heritage festival during February 2016. The previously validated Attitudes to Mental Illness Questionnaire was used. Attitude to professional help-seeking was also assessed, using a tool retrieved from the World Mental Health Composite International Diagnostic Interview part II. Multiple regression analyses were applied, and statistical significance considered at P0.05). Conclusion: The Saudi public reported lack of knowledge of MI and stigmatizing attitudes toward people with MI in relation to treatment, work, marriage, and recovery and toward professional help-seeking. Sociodemographic characteristics predicted correct knowledge and favorable attitudes, while Saudi culture was the likely factor behind negative judgments about mentally ill persons. Efforts to challenge this negative publicity and stigma through antistigma campaigns and public education through schools and media are recommended.

Background: The newly emerged and highly infectious coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which first broke out in Wuhan, China, has invaded most countries around the globe. As both the daily positive cases and death toll increase, countries have taken aggressive action to halt its spread. Saudi Arabia recognized the danger early and implemented a series of urgent precautions. Thus, this study aims to evaluate public trust and compliance with the precautionary measures implemented by authorities to combat the COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of the Saudi public using an electronic questionnaire during the COVID-19 outbreak. The data, which were collected using a validated public trust and compliance tool, were analyzed using the chi-square test, t test, and binary logistic regression. Findings: Of the 1232 participants, there were 655 (53.2%) males and 577 (46.8%) females with 34 ± 10 years as the mean and standard deviation of their age. Participants demonstrated a high level of trust and agreement (98.2%) with the implemented precautionary measures. A positive association between participants’ age and their level of agreement with the government actions (r=˗.082, P=0.004) was observed, with a significant difference between males (97.1± 6.2) and females (98.0± 4.7) (t=˗2.7, P=0.006). Among the participants, 657 (53.3%) were considered to be practicing poor precautionary measures and 575 (46.7%) good precautionary measures. Males (OR=1.8 times, P< 0.001) and those with a school education level (OR=1.7 times, P=0.002) were more likely to have poor precautionary practices compared to others. Married individuals (369, 49.0%; P=0.04) were more likely to comply with good practices. Conclusion: A high level of trust was exhibited by the Saudi public in relation to the precautionary measures taken by authorities in Saudi Arabia. Gender, age, marital status, and educational level were found to be significant factors with regard to compliance with precautionary practices.

In summer 2015, a Saudi 1000-bed tertiary care hospital experienced a serious outbreak among patients of Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS); during which, some healthcare providers contracted the virus, but none died. The outbreak provoked not only fear and stress; but also professional, emotional, ethical, and social conflicts and tension among healthcare providers and patients alike. Therefore, this study aims to explore what healthcare providers, who survived coronavirus infection, have experienced as a MERS patient and how the infection affected their relationship with their colleagues. Semi-structured, face-to-face interviews were conducted individually with seven survivors (healthcare providers). Each interview lasted up to 90min, and the data were analyzed using the thematic analysis technique. Within the participants' rich and illuminating experiences, four themes were identified: caring for others in the defining moments, perceived prejudice behaviours and stigmatization, lived moments of traumatic fear and despair, and denial and underestimation of the seriousness of the disease at the individual and organizational levels. Survivors still suffered as a result of their traumatic experiences, which might negatively influence their performance. As these survivors are vulnerable, it is their organization's responsibility to provide a system that embraces HCPs during and after disastrous events.

Cultural diversity often leads to misunderstandings, clashes, conflicts, ethnocentrism, discrimination, and stereotyping due to the frequent intersection of many variables, such as differences in traditions, behaviours, ethical and moral perspectives, conceptions of health and illness, and language barriers. The root of the issue is related to the way people conceptualise differences and the unique cultural and historical circumstances that have shaped different groups’ heritages. In this study, therefore, we aimed to investigate the perceptions of critical cultural competence (CCC) of registered nurses working in various hospitals across the province of British Columbia, Canada. Data were collected using Almutairi’s Critical Cultural Competence Scale (CCC Scale) with a random sample of 170 registered nurses. This scale measures four essential multidimensional components of the CCC model: critical awareness, critical knowledge, critical skills, and critical empowerment. Data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics (Kruskal-Wallis test). The data revealed that participants’ perceptions of CCC were positive with a mean score of 5.22 out of 7.00 for the total number of items (n = 43) and a standard deviation of 0.54. The mean scores for the CCC subscales ranged from 4.76 (for critical skills) to 5.42 (for critical empowerment). The results indicated a statistical difference in CCC perceptions based on participants’ age and country of birth with p = 0.05 < 0.05 and 0.029 < 0.05, respectively. Nurses’ age (experience) and country of birth may influence their perceptions of CCC as gaining cultural competence requires exposure to caring for patients from various cultures and countries, and is associated with cultural knowledge and awareness. Therefore, this finding reveals that healthcare organizations must provide ongoing cultural education programs to increase their nursing staff’s level of cultural competence so they are better able to deal with the difficulties that might arise during cross-cultural interactions.