OBJECTIVES To establish the period prevalence of spinal disorders referred to physical therapy in a university hospital over a 3-year period, and to determine the relationships of common spinal disorders with patients' age and gender.   METHODS This retrospective study was conducted in the Physical Therapy Department, King Fahd Hospital of the University, Dammam, Saudi Arabia. Computer data o...

Snake bites poisoning is considered as one of the most common causes of death in Saudi Arabia annually. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of administration of high doses of anti-snake venom (ASV) versus low doses in adult patients with severe Viperidae envenoming. Cases were collected retrospectively from Dammam poisoning center, Saudi Arabia throughout the years: 2010 and 2012. Low dos...

Design is a social phenomenon and researchers suggest that social interaction, negotiations and communication between designers are essential to initiate creativity. Within the design studio environment, a number of factors affect the healthy social interaction and design negotiations, such as the teaching style of tutors and the culture that governs a design studio’s environment. This may in t...

Many studies worldwide have demonstrated the negative impact of an unhealthy built environment on citizens. In the case of diabetes, studies have concentrated on the environmental impact and accessibility issues of a place i.e. the home and neighborhood, whereas few studies have addressed the comfort of the type and spatial arrangement of a household and linked it with the prevalence of diabete...

AIM To develop an Arabic version of the University of Rhode Island Change Assessment (URICA), and to examine its internal reliability and factor structure. METHODS Participants were 175 substance abuse/dependent male patients recruited from Al-Amal Hospital of Substance Abuse in Dammam, Saudi Arabia. The URICA was administered to all subjects by two experienced psychologists working at the de...

Pharmacy and medical students are expected to be more knowledgeable regarding rational use of medications as compared to the general public. A cross-sectional study was conducted among students of pharmacy and medicine colleges of Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Dammam, Saudi Arabia using a survey questionnaire. The duration of the study was six months. The aim was to report self-medi...

OBJECTIVE To determine Topiramate efficacy on treatment of infantile spasms and ancillary seizures, and whether there were any improvements on EEG. METHODS A retrospective study of 18 patients with infantile spasms recruited from the Pediatric Unit at King Fahd Hospital of the University, Dammam University, Saudi Arabia was carried out between January 2004 and December 2008. Topiramate was us...

Owing to recent climate changes, dust storms are increasingly common, particularly in the Middle East region. Dust accumulation and subsequent mud formation on solid surfaces in humid environments typically have adverse effects on surface properties such as optical transmittance, surface texture, and microhardness. This is usually because the mud, which contains alkaline and ionic species, adhe...