Public awareness of the neurological manifestation of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To assess awareness of the neurological manifestation of COVID-19 on the Saudi population. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted using a Google Form survey to obtain responses randomly from the Saudi population between February and March 2021 using social media. RESULTS: A total of 831 participants completed the questionnaire. The distribution of the identified isolated neurological manifestations of COVOD-19 infections by participants' age was assessed among the respondents. Loss of smell (88.9%), loss of taste (86.8%), and headache (72.6%) were the most identified first manifestations among all the age groups, while stroke (13.4%) was the least identified for all ages with no statistical significance (p>0.05 for all). Regarding COVID-19 related neurological symptoms, the same was reported: loss of smell, taste, and headache were the most identified symptoms among all the age groups, while stroke was the least identified for all ages with no statistical significance (p>0.05 for all). CONCLUSION: The study concluded that awareness of COVID-19's neurological symptoms could help detect an atypical case, which can help in early intervention and its medical treatment. Moreover, the study also suggested conducting educational programs that emphasize the early identification of neurological symptoms of COVID-19.

Impact of COVID-19 on the rate of stroke cases at a tertiary hospital in Makkah, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To assess and quantify the impact COVID-19 has had thus far on ischemic stroke admission rate and severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) score) at a single tertiary center in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This is a retrospective analysis performed on admitted cases with definitive final diagnoses of transient ischemic attack (TIA) and ischemic stroke at King Abdullah Medical City in Makkah between January 1, 2020 and July 2020. RESULTS: Sixty-nine patients were included in our study, 41 of whom presented at our facility before the pandemic and 29 during the pandemic. No statistical significance was observed between rate of admission, stroke severity, and rate of thrombolysis before the COVID-19 pandemic and after the outbreak. We observed a reduction of mean arrival time after the pandemic began, as well as a reduction of hospital stay days. CONCLUSION: A 29% reduction of admission secondary to acute ischemic stroke was noted during the pandemic. However, COVID-19 did not affect acute stroke care at our institute. The study is limited because of its small sample size, as we assessed just one medical center.