Purpose: Mammography screening (MS) is an underutilized screening tool; although it is provided free of charge to the Saudi community. The present study aimed at assessing knowledge and barriers of mammography screening among women attending primary health centers in Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out among 423 women aged 41– 75 years attending ten primary health centers in Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia. Structured interviewing questionnaires were used for data collection. SPSS program, version 24 was used for data analysis. Results: The least reported risk factors of BC in this study were early menarche (14.9%), first pregnancy after the age of 30 years (18%), and late menopause (18.7%). Concerning knowledge of MS, 50.8% of the women correctly identified that mammogram is the ideal method for detecting BC. The most encountered personal barriers towards MS were lack of information about mammogram (69.5%), fear of exposure to radiation (67.4%), fear of discovery of BC (62.9%), being busy all the time (62.2%), and fear of cancer treatment (61.9%). Regarding economic barriers, 40% of the participants reported that taking sick leave from work is difficult while 37.8% revealed that mammogram is costly. Concerning health system barriers, the most common barriers were fear of error in diagnosis (62.6%), long time to take medical appointment (57%), and preferring not to have a mammogram except after a doctor recommendation (52.7%). The present study showed that women’s education and residence significantly predicted their knowledge. Furthermore, women’s education and income significantly predicted their barriers towards MS. Conclusion: Many barriers toward mammography screening were encountered in the present study. Addressing these barriers and raising awareness about MS may be of great value to increase its uptake by Saudi women.

Background and Objectives: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious and widespread problem worldwide. IPV can seriously influence the physical, mental, sexual, and reproductive health of women as well as the welfare of their children. In the Middle East, IPV is pervasive and widely acceptable. The present study was done to determine the prevalence and correlates of IPV among women attending different primary health centers in the Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 403 Saudi women attending different primary health centers in the Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia. A structured anonymous questionnaire was distributed to the targeted population during a face-to-face interview. Data analysis was done using the SPSS program, version 24. Results: The present study showed that 30.3% of the participants had been exposed to IPV over the last year. Concerning the types of violence, the present study revealed that emotional violence is the highest followed by physical and then sexual violence representing 92.6%, 67.2%, and 44.3%, respectively. The significant predictors of IPV were women with one to three children (OR = 7.322, p-value = 0.006), women with four children or more (OR = 13.463, p-value = 0.006), and women married to husbands with aggressive behavior (OR = 98.703, p-value < 0.001). Not taking the approval on marriage was significantly associated with more exposure to violence (OR = 3.190, p-value = 0.042). In addition, husband smoking status was a significant predictor for IPV (OR = 2.774, p-value = 0.012). However, women married to alcoholic drinkers had a significantly lower risk for exposure to IPV (OR = 0.108, p-value = 0.040). On the other hand, women’s age, marital status, women’s educational level, monthly income in RS, perception of income sufficiency, marriage duration, the age difference between women and their husband, and drug abuse status of the husband were not significant predictors of IPV (p-value ≥ 0.05). Sociocultural effects were the most frequent reason for IPV as reported by the participants (57.4%). The most common consequences of IPV were psychological problems (75.4%) and injuries (42.6%). Women’s reactions to IPV were leaving home (32.8%) or no reaction (36.8%) to retain their marriage. Conclusions: IPV remains an important public health problem among married women in this study area. Urgent interventions including educational and screening programs for Saudi women are required to mitigate the problem.

Psychosocial correlates are one of the crucial determinants for the uptake of colorectal cancer (CRC) screening by the pre-eligible population. The present study aimed to identify the psychosocial correlates of colorectal cancer screening and determine their associated factors among the Saudi population in the Najran region, Saudi Arabia. Using a validated questionnaire, we assessed five constructs of psychosocial correlates of CRC screening among 790 participants aged 45 years and above. The five constructs were salience and coherence, cancer worries, perceived susceptibility, response efficacy, and social influence. Of the studied population, less than 50% agreed with most of the five constructs’ statements, and 27.5% preferred to follow their family members’ advice. Significantly higher mean scores (±SD) were identified for the male gender (7.38 ± 2.15, p = 0.027) and participants working in government sectors (7.60 ± 2.03, p = 0.027) in the cancer worries construct, while the mean (±SD) scores of perceived susceptibility were significantly higher among married participants (14.38 ± 4.10, p = 0.023) and smokers (14.95 ± 3.92, p = 0.041). Our survey results could help policymakers to implement focused health education programs for the pre-eligible population on the importance of the uptake of CRC screening. Furthermore, it is recommended to carry out exploratory mixed-method surveys in other regions of Saudi Arabia to understand the region’s specific psychosocial correlates towards CRC screening.

(1) Background and objectives: Due to increasing life expectancy, more than one-third of women’s life can be spent in the postmenopausal period. In this period, women have different somatic, psychological, and urogenital symptoms. The present study was done to evaluate postmenopausal symptoms and their correlations among Saudi women attending different primary health centers. (2) Methods: adopting a cross-sectional study was done among 845 postmenopausal women attending different primary health centers. The menopause rating scale (MRS) was utilized to investigate the prevalence and severity of different menopausal manifestations. Data collection was done using a structured anonymous questionnaire disseminated during face-to-face interviews. Analysis of data was done utilizing the SPSS program, version 24. (3) Results: The total MRS score was 15.68 ± 6.85. The mean score of the subscales were: 5.56 ± 2.78 for the somatic domain, 6.04 ± 2.89 for the psychological domain, and 4.08 ± 2.32 for the urogenital domain. Joint and muscle pain (25.2%) and sleep problems (18.6%) were the most prevalent severe/very severe somatic symptoms. The most severe/very severe symptoms of the psychological domain were mental and physical exhaustion (20.2%) and depressed mode (19.2%), while that of the urogenital domain were sexual problems (20.1%) and bladder problems (16.3%). Significant predictors of the subscales of MRS were sociodemographic characteristics such as age, residence, marital status, educational level, and occupation. Furthermore, history of chronic diseases, parity, and menopause duration were significant predictors of the subscales of MRS. (4) Conclusion: women in the present study experience different postmenopausal symptoms. Health care providers should consider this crucial stage of women’s life to help elderly women manage these different postmenopausal manifestations.

Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a growing public health issue in Egypt. Health literacy (HL) is a modifiable factor influencing diabetes risk (DR), but the pathways through which HL impacts diabetes risk remain unclear. This study aimed to examine the direct and indirect pathways linking HL to DR in a non-diabetic population. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2022 to August 2023 among employees in the administrative sectors of 16 faculties at Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt. Each faculty was treated as a cluster for sampling. Eligible participants were those without a diagnosis of T2DM. Exclusion criteria included use of antidiabetic medications, cancer diagnosis, long-term corticosteroid or immunosuppressant use, or pregnancy. Sample size from each sector was determined proportionally based on the number of eligible employees, and participants were randomly selected from a coded list. Data were collected via structured face-to-face interviews using validated tools to assess HL, self-efficacy (SE), diabetes knowledge (DK), preventive health behaviors (PHB), and DR, measured by the ARABRISK score. Statistical analyses included Spearman correlations, non-parametric tests, and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via SAS PROC CALIS to assess direct and indirect pathways from HL to DR, controlling for significant covariates. Results: Of the participants, 59.4% had inadequate/problematic HL, and 54.8% had moderate-to-high DR. HL was positively correlated with DK (r = 0.275), SE (r = 0.379), and PHB (r = 0.514) and negatively correlated with DR (r=–0.542), all with p-values < 0.001. The strongest negative correlation was between PHB and DR (r=–0.957). SEM revealed a weak but significant direct effect of HL on DR (β= − 0.05108, p < 0.001). The most substantial indirect effect was observed through PHB (β= − 0.93663, p < 0.001). Additional indirect pathways through DK and SE also emerged, although SE had no significant effect on PHB. Conclusions: HL reduces DR primarily through its effect on PHB. While DK and SE contribute, their effects are less pronounced. Interventions that enhance HL and support healthy behaviors may help prevent T2DM in at-risk populations. Future research should use longitudinal designs, diabetes-specific HL tools, objective risk measures; explore psychosocial mediators; and study diverse populations.

Background: Throughout the world, diabetes, and its consequences, constitutes a serious problem for public health. Metabolic control can reduce the risk of diabetes complications. The present study aims to determine diabetic metabolic control among diabetic patients in the Aljouf region, Saudi Arabia, and its association with family function, depression, and other sociodemographic and clinical data. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 279 diabetic patients attending the diabetic center in a specialized hospital in Aljouf Region, Saudi Arabia. A structured anonymous questionnaire was distributed to the targeted population during a direct interview. Results: The present study showed that HbA1c was 7% among 86% of the participants. Regarding lipid profile, abnormal HDL, LDL, triglycerides, and cholesterol levels were detected among 39.4%, 41.2%, 68.5%, and 50.2% of the participants, respectively. Severe depression and severe family dysfunction were detected among 22% and 6% of the participants, respectively. Increasing age was associated with higher LDL levels and diabetes duration was associated with higher HbA1c levels in patients with diabetes. Conclusion: The study concluded that family function and depression do not directly affect diabetic patients’ diabetes metabolic control and the study showed a high prevalence of uncontrolled HbA1c levels and dyslipidemia among the study participants. Further investigation into the variables underlying the control of diabetes is required to further enhance patient outcomes because many people are still failing to meet the metabolic control objectives. Keywords: Metabolic control; Depression; Family function; Diabetes mellitus; Saudi Arabia