Al-Sofyani, Khouloud Abdulrahman
Muzaffar, Ibrahim Hussain Ali
Baqasi, Abdulrahman Mohammedsaeed
Al Fulayyih, Saleh
Uddin, Mohammed Shahab
Article History
Received: 7 April 2025
Accepted: 7 October 2025
First Online: 13 November 2025
Declarations
:
: The authors declare no competing interests.
: This study was conducted in strict accordance with the ethical standards set forth in the Declaration of Helsinki (1964) and its later amendments, ensuring ethical treatment and protection of participant data throughout the research process. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of King Abdulaziz University Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, granted ethical approval for this study (Reference No. 566 − 23). Due to the retrospective design of the analysis, the IRB provided a waiver for informed consent. Comprehensive measures were implemented to safeguard patient confidentiality and anonymity: all patient identifiers were removed from the dataset and replaced with unique anonymization codes; electronic data were encrypted and stored on secure, password-protected servers accessible only to authorized members of the research team; and physical data copies were secured in locked cabinets within restricted areas. These precautions ensured the rigorous protection of patient information while facilitating the ethical use of the data for research purposes.
: Consent for publication is not applicable. This study involved the analysis of anonymized data, which does not include any identifiable personal information. The Institutional Review Board (IRB) of King Abdulaziz University Hospital provided a waiver for informed consent, recognizing that the retrospective nature of the study does not compromise the anonymity or confidentiality of the data used. All published data are sufficiently anonymized to protect the privacy and confidentiality of participants.