Objectives To describe pharmacy students’ attitude towards providing pharmaceutical care (PC) to patients with anxiety and their knowledge of psychotropic medicines (PM). Methods A cross-sectional emailed survey was sent to all 200 pharmacy students (fourth and fifth year) in one Jordanian university. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and chi-square test. Key findings A total of 134 responses were received (response rate 67%). About two-thirds of students (87, 64.9%) would like to give enough time to patients with anxiety to discuss their medications. Only half of students knew correctly that alprazolam (53.7%) and diazepam (50.0%) are categorized as anxiolytics. Undertaking a course in psychiatry was significantly associated with better students’ knowledge in PM (P < 0.05). Conclusion Despite positive attitudes towards providing PC to patients with anxiety, policy makers should include courses on psychiatric pharmacotherapy in pharmacy curricula to improve pharmacy students’ knowledge of PM.

Objective: To evaluate the knowledge, believes, psychological and behavioural impact of COVID-19 on the general population in the Middle East, exploring how it impacted public lives. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional online survey was sent to a convenience sample in the Middle East through social media (Facebook and WhatsApp) between 16th of June and 30th of June 2020. The questionnaire was designed to collect the demographic, participant’s source of information regarding COVID-19, knowledge and believes about COVID-19, the psychological consequences of COVID-19, impact of COVID-19 on participant’s behaviour. The final version of the questionnaire was further tested for content validity by experts in the field. Results: A total of 2,061 participants completed the survey, with the majority being females (n=1394, 67.6%), from urban areas (n=1896, 92%) and the majority were from countries of The Levant (n=1199, 58.1%), followed by the Arabian Peninsula (n=392, 19.1%), Iraq (n=300, 14.6%) and Egypt (n=138, 6.7%). Few participants (3.0%) reported to have been infected and many (n=1847, 89.6%) were committed to quarantine at home. Social media platforms were the most common sources of information (41.2%). Many (63%) believed that COVID-19 is a biological weapon and were afraid of visiting crowded places (85%). The majority avoided public facilities (86.9%) such as prayer places and believed that the news about COVID-19 made them anxious (49.5%).

Background: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly spread worldwide, and it was officially declared to be a pandemic by the World Health Organization on March 11, 2020. COVID-19 is associated with increasing morbidity and mortality and has impacted the lives of the global populations. Aim: To compare the knowledge of medical and non-medical students at Jordanian universities in issues related to COVID-19 and to evaluate the psychological and behavioural changes in Jordanian students’ lives following directly/indirectly exposure to the COVID-19. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional online survey was sent to a convenience sample in Jordanian universities through social media (Facebook and WhatsApp) between 16th of June and 30th of June 2020. The questionnaire was designed to collect the demographic, participant’s source of information regarding COVID-19, knowledge on COVID-19, the psychological consequences of COVID-19, impact of COVID-19 on participant’s behaviour. The final version of the questionnaire was further tested for content validity by experts in the field. Chi-square test was used to find significant differences between the two groups. Results:  A total of 912 participants completed the survey, with 507(55.6%) being medical students and 405(44.4%) being non-medical students. About 90% of students believed in the existence of corona virus (n=817), but not in the seriousness of the infection (n=85, 9.3%). The majority 82.2% (n=750) agreed that the fake news on social media caused panic situations. A total of 275 medical students avoided following news as compared to 187 non-medical students, and the difference was statistically significant (p-value = 0.003). There were 438 medical students and 338 non medical students who avoided leaving the house for unnecessary needs (p-value = 0.004). Conclusion: Medical students had better knowledge and were more aware on COVID-19 than that of non-medical students; for this reason, medical students tended to change their behaviours in a good way. The current pandemic seems to impact the psychology of the both groups with no difference significant.

<b>Objective: </b>This study aimed to shed the light on the relation between the COVID-19 outbreak and mental health, including depression and anxiety in the Middle East.<br /> <b>Methods: </b>This is a survey-based study that was conducted online to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the Middle East countries. The survey was uploaded on Google Form platform and was distributed through Facebook and WhatsApp platform.<br /> <b>Results: </b>In this study, 1,281 respondents completed the online survey. Results showed higher percentages of anxiety were diagnosed post-pandemic (38.0%) compared to pre-pandemic (6.8%). Similarly, higher percentages of participants were diagnosed with depression post-pandemic (32.0%) compared with pre-pandemic (5.0%). Also, 43.4% of the participants showed that they always or most of the time felt ‘loss of desire or interest in things. Moreover, many participants (22.4%) always/most of the time felt cramps in their chest and heart as soon as they thought of the pandemic. Finally, logistic regression analysis emphasized that gender and age significantly affected the diagnosis of anxiety and depression following the pandemic (p≤0.005).<br /> <b>Conclusions: </b>This current study highlighted an increase in the diagnosis of anxiety and depression among Middle Eastern following the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings revealed the importance of utilizing health coping or resilience strategies, mental health awareness campaigns, and education programs by the policymakers and stakeholders.

Objectives Evaluating Jordanian pharmacists’ roles in psychiatry from psychiatrists perspective. Methods An electronic survey was sent to 100 psychiatrists registered in the Jordanian Psychiatrists Association. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression. Key findings A total of 80 psychiatrists completed the survey (response rate 80%). Most psychiatrists thought that pharmacists are unable to give individuals with mental illness enough time to discuss their medications (62/80, 77.6%) and to monitor psychotropic medications (PM) efficacy (50/80, 62.6%). Around half of respondents thought that, in the future, pharmacists would not be able to suggest PM for patients (42/80, 52.6%), nor changes in PM dosages (37/80, 46.3%). Most psychiatrists emphasized the importance of psychiatric courses to improve pharmacists’ role. Conclusion Although psychiatrists were generally not satisfied with the current role of pharmacists, they had positive expectations about pharmacists’ competency to do certain activities and to assist them in designing drug therapy plans.