Background The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a notable increase in psychological distress, globally. Oman is no exception to this, with several studies indicating high levels of anxiety and depression among the Omani public. There is a need for adaptive and effective interventions that aim to improve the elevated levels of psychological distress due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Objective This study aimed to comparatively assess the efficacy of therapist-guided online therapy with that of self-help, internet-based therapy focusing on COVID-19–induced symptoms of anxiety and depression among individuals living in Oman during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This was a 6-week-long pragmatic randomized controlled trial involving 60 participants who were recruited from a study sample surveyed for symptoms of anxiety or depression among the Omani public amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants in the intervention group were allocated to receive 1 online session per week for 6 weeks from certified psychotherapists in Oman; these sessions were conducted in Arabic or English. The psychotherapists utilized cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy interventions. Participants in the control group received an automatic weekly newsletter via email containing self-help information and tips to cope with distress associated with COVID-19. The information mainly consisted of behavioral tips revolving around the principles of cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy. The primary outcome was measured by comparing the change in the mean scores of Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) and General Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) scale from the baseline to the end of the study (ie, after 6 sessions) between the two groups. The secondary outcome was to compare the proportions of participants with depression and anxiety between the two groups. Results Data from 46 participants were analyzed (intervention group n=22, control group n=24). There was no statistical difference in the baseline characteristics between both groups. Analysis of covariance indicated a significant reduction in the GAD-7 scores (F1,43=7.307; P=.01) between the two groups after adjusting for baseline scores. GAD-7 scores of participants in the intervention group were considerably more reduced than those of participants in the control group (β=−3.27; P=.01). Moreover, a greater reduction in mean PHQ-9 scores was observed among participants in the intervention group (F1,43=8.298; P=.006) than those in the control group (β=−4.311; P=.006). Although the levels of anxiety and depression reduced in both study groups, the reduction was higher in the intervention group (P=.049) than in the control group (P=.02). Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence to support the efficacy of online therapy for improving the symptoms of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 crisis in Oman. Therapist-guided online therapy was found to be superior to self-help, internet-based therapy; however, both therapies could be considered as viable options. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04378257; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04378257

This study investigated the prevalence and determinants of Burnout Syndrome and Depressive Symptoms among medical students in Oman. Then, it explored whether the three-dimensional aspects of Burnout Syndrome (High Emotional Exhaustion, High Cynicism and Low Academic Efficacy) would predict the presence of Depressive Symptoms in a logistic regression model. A cross-sectional study was conducted among a random sample of medical students of Sultan Qaboos University. 662 students participated in the study with a response rate of 98%. The prevalence of Burnout Syndrome and Depressive Symptoms were; 7.4% and 24.5% respectively. Preclinical students reported high levels of both Burnout Syndrome (Odds Ratio-OR 2.83, 95% Confidence Interval CI 1.45-5.54) and Depressive Symptoms (OR 2. 72, 95% CI 1.07-6.89). The three-dimensional aspects of Burnout Syndrome(High Emotional Exhaustion, High Cynicism, low Professional efficacy) were statistically significant predictors of the presence of Depressive Symptoms; OR 3.52 (95% CI: 2.21-5.60), OR 3.33 (95% CI:2.10-5.28) and OR 2.07(95%CI:1.32-3.24) respectively. This study indicates that Burnout Syndrome and Depressive Symptoms are common among medical students, particularly in preclinical grade. Furthermore, the presence of high occupational burnout elevates the risk of depression.

Elsevier has created a COVID-19 resource centre with free information in English and Mandarin on the novel coronavirus COVID-19. The COVID-19 resource centre is hosted on Elsevier Connect, the company's public news and information website. Elsevier hereby grants permission to make all its COVID-19-related research that is available on the COVID-19 resource centre-including this research content-immediately available in PubMed Central and other publicly funded repositories, such as the WHO COVID database with rights for unrestricted research re-use and analyses in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for free by Elsevier for as long as the COVID-19 resource centre remains active.

The prevalence of polypharmacy among elderly medical patients discharged from our hospital was high (76.3%) and was associated with a number of comorbidities and cardiovascular disease as a cause of admission, but not with age or gender. The prevalence of polypharmacy in our institution raises significant concerns over its potential impact on patients' health outcomes and requires further investigation. Raising physicians' awareness of health implications of polypharmacy may help reduce the incidence of medication-related adverse events and improve treatment outcomes.

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