Context:The prevalence of bronchial asthma (BA) is increasing in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Primary health care (PHC) centers follow the national protocol, which is based on the severity of the disease for the management of asthma. The Saudi initiative for asthma (SINA) management adopted from the global initiative for asthma guidelines, which was recommended by several recent studies, is based on the control level of asthma.Aims:To assess the knowledge of PHC physicians and family medicine (FM) residents in Al-Khobar, about the management of BA.Methodology:A cross-sectional study was conducted in all PHC centers and the university FM clinic in Al-Khobar. All PHC physicians and 3rd and 4th year FM residents were included in the study. A self-administered questionnaire developed according to SINA guidelines was used to assess theoretical knowledge of BA, and a predesigned checklist was used to assess the different inhaler techniques. Scoring was established and collected data were analyzed.Results:Only 8% of the sample had good theoretical knowledge of BA; 41% had poor knowledge. The knowledge of the residents was better than that of the PHC physicians. The mean knowledge score was significantly better among those using guidelines compared to the rest. About 23% had good knowledge of inhaler techniques. Knowledge of PHC physicians and FM residents about dry powder inhalers was deficient, and PHC physicians had little knowledge of metered dose inhalers with spacers.Conclusion:The knowledge of physicians about the management of BA was deficient. The national guidelines based on the level of control for asthma management should be updated and physicians given periodic training.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated glycemic control among T1DM pediatric patients attending the endocrinology pediatrics clinics at King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFHU) prior to and during COVID-19 restraining regulations. In addition, we assessed the trends and variations in the incidence of T1DM during 2017-2021, including the COVID-19 years by identifying newly diagnosed patients presenting to pediatrics emergency department (ED) in KFHU. METHODS: To estimate the effect of COVID-19 on the incidence of T1DM, we identified newly diagnosed cases of T1DM among pediatric patients attending the ED during the years 2017- 2021. The participants' data were collected through electronic medical records. Information collected included patient age, sex, and HbA1c readings. Three HbA1c readings of interest that were defined and collected are pre-COVID reading, in-COVID reading, and post-COVID reading. RESULTS: The difference of female participants' readings was statistically non-significant (Z= -0.416, p = 0.678), with a pre- and post-COVID median of 10.70 (Q1= 9.00, Q3= 12.15), and 10.50 (Q1= 8.80, Q3= 12.35), respectively. In contrast, the difference was statistically significant among male participants (Z= -2.334, p = 0.02), with a pre- and post-COVID median of 10.20 (Q1= 8.70, Q3= 11.80), and 10.65 (Q1= 9.00, Q3= 12.70), respectively. There was a statistically significant increase in HbA1c of persons > 11 years old (Z= -2.471, p= 0.013), with a pre- and post-COVID median of 10.40 (Q1= 9.00, Q3= 12.10), and 10.90 (Q1= 9.00, Q3= 12.60), respectively. Conversely, persons ≤ 11 years old showed no statistically significant change in HbA1c (Z= -.457, p= 0.648), with a pre- and post-COVID median of 10.45 (Q1= 8.70, Q3= 11.85), and 10.20 (Q1= 8.40, Q3= 12.075), respectively. Disregarding any influence of time, the effect of sex showed no statistically significant difference in HbA1c between males and females [F (1,125) = 0.008, p = 0.930]. Meanwhile, the age effect on HbA1c, regardless of time influence, was statistically significant [F (1,125) = 4.993, p = 0.027]. There was no statistically significant interaction between time and sex on HbA1c levels [F (1.74, 217) = 0.096, p = 0.883] and between age and time [F (3.92,289.57) = 1.693, p = 0.190]. CONCLUSIONS: The number of visits to healthcare facilities dropped significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the rate of newly diagnosed T1DM increased. There was a variable effect on HbA1c levels of those patients, which suggests that each demographic group in the population might have been affected differently by the pandemic. Future research should determine factors associated with better glycemic control and measures to sustain these changes the pandemic might have created.

Background The Emergency Repartment (ER) is one of the most used areas in healthcare institutions. Problems with over utilisation and overcrowding have been reported worldwide. This study aims at examining the characteristics of paediatric ER visits, the rate of hospital admissions and its associated predictors at King Fahd Hospital of the University in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Methods This is a retrospective, medical record-based study. Variables included gender, age group, nationality, complaints, Triage level, shifts and seasons. Descriptive statistics were reported as frequencies/percentages. P-values were obtained through a Chi-Squared test while unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios were estimated by binary logistic regression, where admission was considered as the outcome. Results The total number of paediatric patients included was 46,374, and only 2.5% were admitted. Males comprised 55.4% while females comprised 44.6%. The most common age group were toddlers, and 92.4% of the total sample were Saudis. The most common complaint was fever (26.9%) followed by respiratory symptoms (24.9%). Only 7 patients (0.02%) were classified as triage I (Resuscitation), and most were triage IV (Less urgent) (71.0%). Most visits occurred during the winter months. Adjusted ORs showed that neonates had higher odds of admission (OR = 3.85, 95%CI = 2.57–5.76). Moreover, those presenting with haematological conditions showed an OR of 65.49 (95%CI = 47.85–89.64), followed by endocrine conditions showing an OR of 34.89 (95%CI = 23.65–51.47). Triage I had a very high odds of admission (OR = 19.02, 95%CI = 2.70–133.76), whereas triage V was associated with a very low odds of admission (OR = 0.30, 95%CI = 0.23–0.38). Conclusions A low rate of hospital admission was found in comparison with other rates worldwide. This was mostly attributed to an alarmingly high number of non-urgent ER visits. This further emphasises the problem with improper use of ER services, as these cases should be more appropriately directed towards primary healthcare centres. Further studies to examine the impact of prioritising patients in the ER based on the identified predictors of hospital admission, in addition to the standard triage system, are suggested.

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