Background: The use of smartphones among the general public and health care practitioners, in particular, is ubiquitous. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between smartphone addiction and sleep quality, psychological distress, and loneliness among health care students and workers in Saudi Arabia.Methods: This cross-sectional study used an online questionnaire to collect data on smartphone addiction, sleep quality, psychological distress, and loneliness as well as demographic information.Results: A total of 773 health care students and workers participated in the study, with an average age of 25.95 ± 8.35, and 59.6% female participants. The study found a positive significant association between smartphone addiction and psychological distress (F_(1,771)= 140.8,P< 0.001) and emotional loneliness (F_(1,771)= 26.70,P< 0.001). Additionally, a significant negative association between smartphone addiction and sleep quality was found (F_(1,771)= 4.208,P= 0.041). However, there was no significant relationship between smartphone addiction and social loneliness (F (1,771) = 0.544,P< 0.461).Conclusion: These findings suggest that smartphone addiction has a negative impact on psychological distress, sleep quality, and emotional loneliness among health care students and workers. It is important to promote strategies to reduce smartphone dependency in order to avoid the harmful consequences of smartphone addiction.

Background: Caregiver burden is a serious global issue associated with the growing number of older adult patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AD patients become more dependent on their caregivers and require assistance with basic daily life activities. This study aims to measure the caregiver burden of informal caregivers of AD patients and to determine their characteristics. In addition, it intends to understand caregiver coping techniques and assess their medication knowledge. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study including 148 informal caregivers mainly recruited by the Saudi Alzheimer’s Disease Association (SADA). A four-part study questionnaire was used for data collection in the Arabic Language and included the following: socio-demographic characteristics of AD patients and their caregivers, the 12-item version of the Zarit Burden Interview (ZBI), and adapted questions on coping techniques and medication knowledge. Results: A total of 148 caregivers (62% were female) participated in this study, and 79.06% were between 30 and 60 years old. The ZBI average score was 27, indicating a moderate to high burden. Caregivers reported their need for services to improve their quality of life. The medication knowledge was insufficient in most aspects except that more than half were aware of medications’ side effects. Conclusion: Our study revealed that the average burden among informal caregivers of AD patients was moderate–high.

Introduction: Recently, there has been an alarming increase in psychological distress in many populations. One of the reasons can be attributed to the rapid development of technology and social media, which could adversely affect the mental health of individuals, including those working in healthcare. This study aimed to assess the influence of social media addiction, psychological distress, and loneliness on suicidal ideations and suicide attempts among healthcare students and professionals in Saudi Arabia. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study collected data from healthcare students and professionals using a five-part questionnaire: (i) demographics, (ii) the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale (BSMAS), (iii) the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10), (iv) the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale (DGLS), and (v) suicide ideation and attempts scale. Results: There were 800 participants from 33 cities who completed the questionnaire. A total of 31.37% reported lifelong thoughts of suicide, regardless of whether they would actually go through with it (S1), 18.38% had suicidal thoughts within the last 12 months (S2), and 11% had attempted suicide (S3). Of those who attempted suicide, 79 (89.77%) reported seeking help. Multiple logistic regression showed that lifetime suicidal thoughts were predicted by psychological distress, emotional loneliness (EL), social loneliness (SL), and age. Having had suicidal thoughts within the prior 12 months was predicted by psychological distress, SL, and age. Suicidal attempts were predicted by psychological distress, EL, age, and social media addiction. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrated that psychological distress and loneliness are strongly associated with suicidal ideas and suicide attempts. Such results could serve as a warning call that assists healthcare professionals and mental health teams in arranging and planning effective interventions and actions to raise awareness, as well as reduce the levels of psychological distress and loneliness that could lead to grave consequences.

There are conflicting findings regarding the risk of acute kidney injury (AKI) and mortality with vancomycin/piperacillin-tazobactam combination (VPT) and vancomycin/meropenem (VM). The aim of this meta-analysis was to compare the risk of AKI and mortality between VPT and VM. Observational studies reporting the incidence of AKI and mortality in patients receiving VPT or VM between January 2017 and September 2024 were retrieved from PubMed, the Cochrane Library, and Web of Science. The primary outcome of the analysis was the risk of AKI, and the secondary outcomes were the mortality rate, need for renal replacement therapy (RRT), and hospital length of stay (LOS). This meta-analysis was conducted using a random-effects model to estimate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for AKI, mortality, and RRT or mean difference and 95% CI for the LOS. Seventeen studies involving a total of 80,595 patients were included in the analysis. The odds of developing AKI were higher among patients who received the VPT versus those who received the VM combination (OR = 2.02; 95%CI 1.56–2.62). There were no differences between VPT and VM in the mortality and hospital length of stay; however, the odds of requiring RRT were higher among VPT group versus VM group (OR = 1.55; 95%CI 1.23–1.96). The findings suggest that the use of VPT is associated with a higher risk of AKI compared to VM and highlight the need for cautious antibiotic selection and monitoring of renal function in patients receiving these combinations.