ABSTRACT
Introduction: During the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, all perspectives of life were affected by the situation, and as a result, all health services worldwide were overwhelmed, which led to the exhaustion of hospital beds and intensive care units, workforce and resources. This research was done to determine the health-seeking behaviour during the COVID pandemic COVID-19 in the Al Zulfi area and its relation to the monthly number of patient visits to primary health centre before and after the pandemic and the roles and regulations for health-care services. Materials and Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study to study the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on patients' health-seeking behaviour in Zulfi city. Results: Results were obtained from 567 participants;the finding was a decline in the number of patients visiting the health facilities by 65.6% compared in 2019. There were more declines in males than in females (18.5% vs. 15.9%, respectively). Conclusion: Despite the strong impact of COVID-19 on healthcare, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the strongest countries in facing this pandemic, providing the best care, educating society and minimizing losses. Under these circumstances, patients' visits to health centres in Zulfi decreased, complications appeared for some patients who rescheduled their appointments, healthcare became electronic, and the patients were satisfied with those services.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: This article describes the prevalence and epidemiological trends of COVID-19 mortality in the largest registry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). STUDY DESIGN: A prospective epidemiological cohort study using data from all healthcare facilities in KSA collected between March 23, 2020, and April 30, 2022. Data on the number of daily deaths directly related to COVID-19 were gathered, analyzed, and reported. METHOD: Data analysis was carried out using national and regional crude case fatality rate and death per 100,000 population. Descriptive statistics using numbers and proportions were used to describe age, gender, nationality, and comorbidities. The mortality trend was plotted and compared with international figures. In addition, the most common comorbidities associated with mortality and the proportion of patients who received COVID-19 vaccine were reported. RESULTS: The total reported number of deaths between March 23, 2020, and April 30, 2022, was 9085. Crude case fatality rate was 1.21%, and death per 100,000 population was 25.38, which compared favorably to figures reported by several developed countries. The highest percentages of deaths were among individuals aged between 60 and 69 years, males (71%), and individuals with diabetes (60%). Only 2.8% of mortalities occur in patients who received COVID-19 vaccine. Diabetes, hypertension, and heart failure had the highest attributable risk of mortality among patients who died due to COVID-19. CONCLUSION: Case fatality rate and death per 100,000 population in KSA are among the lowest in the world due to multiple factors. Several comorbidities have been identified, namely, diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and cardiac arrhythmias.