How do university students perceive the educational transition in the COVID-19 era: A cross-sectional study from 15 Arab countries.

Background and Aims: The viral agent of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to spread worldwide, leading to a global pandemic. this may negatively affect students' mental health who have to maintain their learning efforts. Therefore, we aimed to assess students' perceptions of the online learning programs designed for university students in Arab countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on university students using a self-administered online questionnaire in 15 Arab countries, including 6779 participants. The actual sample size was calculated using the EpiInfo program calculator. The validated, piloted questionnaire assessed the effectiveness of internet-based distance learning applications used in these countries during the pandemic. The SPSS version 22 was used. Results: Among the 6779 participants, 26.2% believed that their teachers diversify learning methods, 22.0% thought that their teachers were able to treat the weakness the students have, and 30.7% agreed that their teachers efficiently communicate with them through COVID-19 internet-based learning process. Around 33% of students participated in lectures effectively, 47.4% submitted their homework within accepted deadlines, and 28.6% thought that their colleagues did not cheat during exams and homework. Around 31.3% of students believed that online-based learning had a role in directing them towards research, and 29.9% and 28.9%, respectively, believed that online learning had a role in developing analytical thinking and synthesis skills. Participants reported many suggestions to enhance the process of internet-based distance learning in the future. Conclusion: Our study suggests that online-based distance learning in Arab countries still needs more improvement as students still are more inclined toward face-to-face teaching. However, exploring the factors that influence students' perceptions of e-learning is vital for improving the quality of online-based distance learning. We recommend exploring the perceptions of educators regarding their experience towards online-based distance learning during COVID-19 lockdown.

Assessment of Knowledge, Perception, Experience and Phobia toward Corticosteroids Use among the General Public in the Era of COVID-19: A Multinational Study.

BACKGROUND: Corticosteroids play a significant role in managing the vast majority of inflammatory and immunologic conditions. To date, population-based studies on knowledge and attitudes concerning corticosteroids are scarce. This study aims to comprehensively assess knowledge, perception, experience and phobia toward corticosteroid use among the general population in the era of COVID-19. METHODS: A cross-sectional self-administrated questionnaire was used to collect the data from 6 countries. Knowledge and corticophobia scores, descriptive statistics and logistic regression were computed. RESULTS: A total of 2354 participants were enrolled in this study; the majority were females (61.6%) with an average age of 30. Around 61.9% had been infected previously with COVID-19, and about one-third of the participants had experience with corticosteroid use. The mean knowledge score was relatively satisfactory (8.7 ± 4.5 out of 14), and Corticophobia ranked a high score in all countries. Age, female gender, and history of COVID-19 were positively correlated with developing corticophobia. CONCLUSION: Our study highlights that the general knowledge about steroids was satisfactory. However, the phobia toward its use upon indication is high. Therefore, enhancing awareness and providing essential counseling regarding the rational use of corticosteroids may reduce corticophobia.

Public Knowledge and Perceptions about the Emerging Human Mpox in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Hundreds of human mpox cases are spreading outside of Western and Central Africa, which could be considered a significant world health problem. In this study, we sought to assess public knowledge and perceptions of human mpox. The study was a cross-sectional survey conducted in Jordan in September-October 2022. All participants were approached through social media portals. A total of 1195 participants agreed to participate in this study. The participants showed a low median knowledge score about human mpox (4.0 out of 15.0, IQR = 5.0), with only 27.9% of the participants (n = 334) correctly identifying that human mpox is not a bacterial disease, and around half of them (n = 589, 49.3%) knowing that this disease affects both genders. Higher monthly income (≥400 JD/month) was significantly associated with better knowledge about the disease. Social media was the most comprehensive source of information about mpox (n = 1018, 85.2%). Finally, 57.3% of the participants (n = 685) believed that mpox would affect social and economic life, like the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings highlight the urgent need for systematic strategies that should be promoted to increase public knowledge of mpox, which will be critical in improving the capacity to respond to the disease.

Menstrual changes following COVID-19 infection: A cross-sectional study from Jordan and Iraq.

PURPOSE: COVID-19 infection is normally followed by several post-COVID effects. This study aimed to investigate to evaluate menstrual changes in females following COVID-19 infection, and to evaluate female perception about the effect of COVID-19 on their menstrual cycles. METHODS: During this cross-sectional survey-based study, a convenience sample of 483 women from Jordan and from Iraq, who had infected with COVID-19 were invited to fill-out the study questionnaire. RESULTS: The study was conducted on the females, with a median age 31 years old. Results showed that 47.2% of them (n = 228) suffered from a change in the number of days between two consecutive periods, as well as from a change in the amount of blood loss. Also, more than 50% of them believed that COVID-19 infection may cause changes in the amount of blood loss during the cycle (n = 375, 56.9%), and changes in the number of days between the two consecutive periods (n = 362, 54.2%). Regression analysis showed that participants with higher educational level (bachelor or higher) (Beta = -0.114, P = 0.011), and those living in Iraq (Beta = -0.166, P<0.001) believed that COVID-19 has lower tendency to cause menstrual changes. In addition, non-married females (Beta = 0.109, P = 0.017), and those who are current smokers (Beta = 0.091, P = 0.048) believed that COVID-19 has higher tendency to cause menstrual changes. CONCLUSION: his study revealed that COVID-19 infection could affect the menstrual cycle for the females. Further prospective studies should be done to confirm these findings and evaluate how long these menstrual irregularities lasted.

Jordanian views regarding sharing of medical data for research: A cross-sectional study during COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: In the current study, the views of Jordanian regarding sharing medical reports for research purposes were investigated during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, motivators and barriers regarding sharing of medical records were examined. METHODS: This observational survey-based cross-sectional study was conducted using an electronic questionnaire during the COVID-19 pandemic (second half of 2020). The questionnaire link was disseminated through two social media platforms (WhatsApp and Facebook), targeting Jordanian adults (age >18 years). RESULTS: In this study, 1,194 participants agreed to complete the study survey. Results showed that 58.3% of them (n = 696) reported to be willing to share their medical data. while 17.6% of the participants (n = 210) showed hesitancy to share their medical information. The most important motivators as perceived by the study participants were helping other patients who have similar health conditions (n = 995, 83.3%). Moreover, fearing from stigma (n = 753, 63.1%), and the lack of confidence in data security and privacy (n = 728, 61.0%) were among the main barriers preventing participants from sharing their information. Finally, results showed that participants with higher educational level (bachelor or higher) (OR = 0.299, P<0.001), or those living in center of Jordan (OR = 0.270, P<0.001) showed a lower tendency to share their medical data. While participants those who have shared data before showed a higher tendency to share their medical data (OR = 2.524, P<0.001). CONCLUSION: In this study, many of the participants had a positive attitude towards sharing biomedical data for scientific research during the COVID-19 pandemic, many had doubts in the control over their data. Thus, policymakers and data users should address the concerns and values of patients and understand their preferences in favor of an ethically scrupulous use of data in research.

Coronavirus disease patients' views and experiences of pharmaceutical care services in Lebanon.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the experiences and views of domiciliary coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients towards pharmaceutical care services provided during their infection. METHODS: This was a single-centred observational study conducted among home-treated COVID-19 patients (n = 500), who were tested positive for COVID-19 in a medical centre in Lebanon. KEY FINDINGS: Out of the 500 home-treated COVID-19 patients invited to participate in the study, 279 patients completed the questionnaire. Although the participants had a good view of pharmacists caring for COVID-19 patients (mean view score: 17.79/25), their treatment experiences were unsatisfactory (mean experience score: 1.51/4). CONCLUSIONS: COVID-19 patients reported minimal involvement of pharmacists in their treatment. Therefore, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare authorities should intervene in restructuring, guiding and reviewing unrealized new pharmaceutical services to COVID-19 outpatients.

Community pharmacists' preparedness and responses to COVID-19 pandemic: A multinational study.

BACKGROUND: Community pharmacists play a pivotal role in healthcare worldwide. Their role became more critical during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study aims to investigate the community pharmacists' preparedness and responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and how efficiently they were prepared to contain and prevent the spread of infection. METHODS: An online questionnaire was distributed to community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Jordan through social media platforms. A scoring system was developed to measure their level of adherence to the preventive measures of the global infection. RESULTS: The total included responses were 800. Around 44% of the pharmacists reported spending less than 15 min/d reading about COVID-19 updates. Although more than half of them were reviewing official sites, 73% of them were also retrieving information through non-official channels. Additionally, almost 35% of them were directly contacting customers without physical barriers, 81% reported encountering infected customers, and 12% wore the same facial masks for more than a day. Moreover, 58% of the pharmacies reported the absence of door signs requesting infected customers to declare the infection, 43% of the pharmacies were not limiting the number of simultaneous customers, and 70% were not measuring customers' temperatures prior to entry. Collectively, the mean total score of applied protective measures was 10.12 ± 2.77 (out of 17). CONCLUSION: The level of preparedness of the community pharmacies in these three Middle Eastern countries was not adequate for facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Health authorities in these countries should closely monitor their adherence to the protective guidelines.

Exploring perception and hesitancy toward COVID-19 vaccine: A study from Jordan.

Vaccination against COVID-19 may present the most effective strategy to control current viral pandemic. The success of delivering mass vaccination, on the scale of what would be applied to contain COVID-19, largely depends on the compliance of the public to programs mandated by public health officials. This study was aimed to evaluate the perception and possible hesitance of people in Jordan toward a tentative COVID-19 vaccine using self-administrated online survey. During the study period, a total of 1287 agreed to participate in the study. More than half of the participants (n = 734, 57%) were females and the majority (n = 893, 69%) had a University degree. Most of the participants (n = 871, 68%) believed that scientists have adequate tools to develop a safe and efficacious COVID-19 vaccine and two-third of them (n = 861, 67%) believed that developing vaccines would end the pandemic. However, around half of them (n = 665, 52%) reported not having adequate information on the benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. Preference of study participants to achieve immunity against COVID-19 using natural way was the most commonly reported reason to refuse vaccination (n = 826, 64%), followed by their concern about adverse effects associated with the vaccine (n = 781, 61%). In conclusion, the sampled participants showed an overall positive attitude toward receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Educational campaigns using television and social media are recommended to better inform the public of the benefits of COVID-19 vaccine in reaching a "herd immunity" based strategy to control the current pandemic.

Public Willingness to Participate in COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Trials: A Study from Jordan.

PURPOSE: The development and production of novel vaccine to prevent COVID-19 is an international imperative to human lives. For that purpose, clinical trials have to be carried out as per international ethical standards. The current study was undertaken to examine the willingness to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials and to determine factors that might affect their decision to participate. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey study was carried out among the public in Jordan. During the study period, a convenience sample of adults (aged 18 years or above) were asked to participate via an online self-administered survey that was designed to evaluate the willingness to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials and to determine factors affecting their decision to participate. RESULTS: Results showed that, among participants (n=1,287), 36.1% reported to be willing to participate in clinical trials of the vaccine. Additionally, a lower percentage (18.1%) were willing to allow their children to participate. Motivators that encourage participation were the desire to return to normal life (73.2%), followed by the desire to help in finding a treatment for COVID-19 infection (68.1%). Barriers towards the participation were not wanting to be challenged by the virus (54.7%), fear (40.7%), lack of time (40.4%), and mistrust in pharmaceutical companies (38.9%). Finally, results showed that higher educational level was associated with lower willingness to participate (P=0.001), whereas having a previous participation in clinical studies is associated with a significantly higher willingness to participate in COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials (P<0.001). CONCLUSION: A good portion of Jordanians are positive regarding participation in clinical studies of COVID-19 vaccine. Educational level and previous participation in clinical studies were among the determinants of such willingness. In addition, fear and lack of time were among the barriers of participation.

Willingness and readiness to test for COVID-19; A qualitative exploration of community pharmacists.

OBJECTIVES: The present study aimed to exploring community pharmacists' willingness and readiness to test for COVID-19 in Jordan. METHODS: Purposeful sampling was used to identify a list of 30 community pharmacies, which were approached to participate in the study. Twenty interviews were needed to reach data saturation. In-depth interviews were conducted, recorded, transcribed, and analysed using NVivo 11 Software. Interviews followed a previously prepared and validated 10-item interview guide. The interview guide discussed pharmacists' willingness and readiness to test for COVID-19. RESULTS: Twenty community pharmacists were interviewed for the purpose of the present study. Interviews took place during April 2020 and the mean interview duration was 23.30 minutes. Respondents had a mean age of 36.4 years and a mean experience of 8.8 years. The majority were female (70%) and 50% held a BSc in Pharmacy. Regarding respondents' willingness to test for COVID-19 emerging themes were helping other healthcare professional, willingness to contribute to official efforts in fighting COVID-19, acting as an accessible testing cite, willingness to carry out home testing. Regarding respondents' readiness to test for COVID-19 emerging themes were Pharmacists lack basic testing skills, pharmacies are not ready to preform tests and the need for training and certifying. CONCLUSION: Jordanian pharmacists are willing to test patients for COVID-19 in community pharmacies, however, they thought they are not ready enough to undergo such tests and needed extra training and better safety precautions.