ABSTRACT
The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare services has been profound. One major impact has been underutilization of traditional healthcare services by patients. In 2020, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) started offering general COVID-19 enquiries, education, and medical and psychological consultations around the clock via their 937-Call Center. Given this major change, there was a need to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Call Center services, specifically medical consultations, to suggest future recommendations for patient care optimization. This descriptive study analyzed routinely collected data on the 937-Call Center service between March 2020 and September 2020. Data were reviewed, coded, verified, and analyzed using SPSS v22. There was a 296% increase in the number of calls received by the 937-Call Center in 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. The majority of calls received in 2020 were general medical enquiries (98.41%), but about three million COVID-19-specific enquiries were also received in 2020. The increased number of calls was managed by accepting volunteers to handle calls: an average of 236 volunteers per month, handling about 20% of the total call volume. The majority of volunteers were physicians but with the presence of pharmacists, psychologists, and specialized healthcare workers such as nutritionists. Utilization of the 937-Call Center increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that it has been an effective strategy for combatting the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia. Further research is recommended to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on public awareness of the 937-Call Center and other health-related mobile apps.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Premarital screening and genetic counseling (PMSGC) is compulsory in Saudi Arabia and aims to identify and decrease the prevalence of some genetic and sexually transmitted infectious diseases. However, there are little data on community awareness about PMSGC. This study assessed knowledge levels, attitudes, and behaviors associated with PMSGC in the general Saudi Arabian population and their associations with sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, population-based study of 6263 participants randomly selected from all 20 health regions in Saudi Arabia, stratified according to age and fulfilling predefined selection criteria. Trained data collectors used a comprehensive pretested questionnaire to collect data. Data were collected in March and April 2019. Univariable and multivariable associations between sociodemographic characteristics and knowledge levels, attitudes, and behaviors were examined. RESULTS: While all 6263 study participants had heard about PMSGC, only 575 (9.2%) participants had satisfactory knowledge, while 3283 (52.4%) participants had fair knowledge. Predictors of high knowledge scores were university or higher education level (aOR=2.06; 95% CI: 1.80-2.36), positive medical history of PMSGC-screened disease (aOR=2.02; 95% CI: 1.51-2.69), family income ≥3000 SR/month (aOR=1.70; 95% CI: 1.50-1.93), being married/previously married (aOR=1.46; 95% CI: 1.25-1.70), female gender (aOR=1.25; 95% CI: 1.12-1.40), and age >18 years (aOR=1.25; 95% CI: 1.06-1.48). The majority of participants (5246, 83.8%) had positive attitudes towards the importance of PMSGC, the burden of screened genetic and infectious diseases on the family, and that marrying was inadvisable with incompatible results. Of the 3986 engaged or married participants, 2911 (73.0%) had undertaken premarital screening, of whom 360 (12.4%) had incompatible results; 98 (37.1%) married despite this information. CONCLUSION: Despite advances in public healthcare measures in Saudi Arabia, gaps remain in the knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors associated with PMSGC. Culturally specific community health education programs for PMSGC must be devised that emphasize the risks associated with consanguineous marriage.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To assess the epidemiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in Arab countries, and identify gaps for future research. METHODS: We searched PubMed from July 1978 to July 2014 and reviewed local journals with cross-referencing. The keywords we used were ADHD, diagnosis, prevalence, incidence, factor, diagnosis, rate, risk, and each of the names of the 22 Arab countries (Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and so on). Studies were eligible for inclusion if they investigated the epidemiology of ADHD in any Arab country, and were published in English. The search was conducted from 2nd to 5th August 2014 in King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. RESULTS: A total of 22 articles were included in the review. Twenty studies were cross-sectional and found the prevalence of ADHD ranged between 1.3-16%, prevalence of hyperactive type ADHD between 1.4-7.8%, and the prevalence of inattention type between 2.1-2.7%. Only 2 case-control studies investigated potential risk factors. Evidence extracted from these studies shows a significant association between ADHD and male gender, previous psychiatric illness in the family, vitamin D deficiency, poor school performance, sleep problems, and nocturnal enuresis. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ADHD in Arab countries is comparable to reports in North America, Africa, and other countries of the Middle East. Longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the prognosis and determinants of this condition in the Arab world.
