Background COVID-19 pandemic is a major strain on health and economic systems, with rapidly increasing demand for in patients’ facilities. Disease diagnosis and estimating patients at higher risk is important for the optimal management during the pandemic. This study aimed to identify the predictors of mortality and length of hospital stay in COVID-19 patients. Methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2020 and August 2020 at Al-Noor Specialist Hospital in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. All patients who were admitted and had a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis by a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were included in the study. Descriptive statistics were used to describe patients’ demographic characteristics, laboratory findings, and clinical outcomes. Multiple logistic/linear regression analysis was used to identify predictors of death and length of stay at the hospital. Results A total of 706 patients were hospitalised for COVID-19. The mean age was 48.0 years (SD: 15.6 years). More than half of the patients (68.5%; n= 292) were males. The median duration of stay at the hospital was 6.0 days (IQR: 300–10:00). The prevalence rate of venous thromboembolism (VTE) among the patients was 3.0% (n= 21). In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, age (AOR: 1.05; 1.02–1.09), patients with end-stage renal disease (AOR: 6.44; 2.20–18.87), low Oxygen saturation SPO2 (AOR: 9.92; 4.19–23.50), D.dimer >0.5 (AOR: 13.31; 5.45–32.49), ESR>10 mm/h (AOR: 4.08; 1.72–9.68), Ferritin>400mcg/L (AOR: 18.55; 6.89–49.96), and Procalcitonin>0.5ug/L (AOR: 8.23; 1.81– 37.40) were associated with a higher risk of death among patients with COVID-19. Patients with VTE (AOR: 12.86; 3.07– 53.92) were at higher risk of death due to COVID-19. Conclusion Hospitalised COVID-19 patients have multiple negative consequences in terms of their laboratory findings, signs and symptoms. Age and end-stage renal diseases have a significant impact on the mortality rate and the length of hospital stay among COVID-19 patients.

Background Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a rapidly spreading global pandemic. The clinical characteristics of COVID-19 have been reported; however, there is limited research investigating the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in the Middle East. This study aims to investigate the clinical, radiological and therapeutic characteristics of patients diagnosed with COVID19 in Saudi Arabia. Methods This study is a retrospective single-centre case series study. We extracted data for patients who were admitted to the Al-Noor Specialist Hospital with a PCR confirming SARS-COV-2 between 12th and 31st of March 2020. Descriptive statistics were used to describe patients’ characteristics. Continuous data were reported as mean ± SD. Chi-squared test/Fisher test were used as appropriate to compare proportions for categorical variables. Results A total of 150 patients were hospitalised for COVID-19 during the study period. The mean age was 46.1 years (SD: 15.3 years). The most common comorbidities were hypertension (28.8%, n = 42) and diabetes mellitus (26.0%, n = 38). Regarding the severity of the hospitalised patients, 105 patients (70.0%) were mild, 29 (19.3%) were moderate, and 16 patients (10.7%) were severe or required ICU care. Conclusion This case series provides clinical, radiological and therapeutic characteristics of hospitalised patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

The primary objective of this study is to describe the demographics and clinical characteristics of patients with Poncet's disease (PD) in the Makkah region in Saudi Arabia, where tuberculosis is on the rise. The secondary objective is conducting a PD systematic literature review to compare our findings. We studied seven patients who presented with arthritis within the first 3 years from diagnosis of active tuberculosis in two centers in the Makkah region: King Faisal Specialist Hospital and King Fahad Hospital in Jeddah from January 2005 to December 2011. We conducted a literature review on PD in multiple biomedical/pharmaceutical databases up to December 2011. We detected a new pattern of reactive arthritis associated with tuberculosis (TB). We identified this as PD or tuberculous rheumatism, which is a sterile reactive arthritis that can emerge during any stage of acute TB infection. Seven cases of Poncet's disease were identified in our study. The most common presentation was extrapulmonary with involvement of multiple sites. Six out of seven patients developed arthritis after initiation of anti-TB drugs; one patient developed polyarthritis after completion of anti-TB medication. Asymmetrical polyarthritis was the most common presentation and the resolution of the arthritis was with symptomatic treatment and continuation of anti-TB drugs except in one case. PD may manifest in a variable pattern during the course of active tuberculous infection. Physicians should be aware of this rare complication associated with a common disease to prevent delay in diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a rapidly spreading global pandemic. The clinical characteristics of COVID-19 has been reported; however, there are limited researches that investigated the clinical characteristics of COVID-19 in the Middle East. The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical, radiological and therapeutic characteristics of patients diagnosed with COVID19 in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: This study is a retrospective single-centre case series study. We extracted data for patients who were admitted to the Al-Noor Specialist hospital with a PCR confirmed SARS-COV-2 between 12th and 31st of March 2020. Descriptive statistics were used to describe patients characteristics. Continuous data were reported as mean (SD). Chi-squared test/Fisher test were used as appropriate to compare proportions for categorical variables. RESULTS: A total of 150 patients were hospitalised for COVID-19 during the study period. The mean age was 46.1 years (SD: 15.3 years). Around 61.0% (n= 90) were males and six patients (3.9%) reported working in the healthcare sector. The most common comorbidities were hypertension (28.8%, n= 42) and diabetes mellitus (26.0%, n= 38). The majority of the patients, 64.4% (n = 96) had a recent contact history with a COVID patient. Regarding the severity of the hospitalised patients, 105 patients (70.0%) were mild, 29 (19.3%) were moderate, and 16 patients (10.7%) were severe or required ICU care. From the 105 mild patients, around 31.3% (n= 47) were asymptomatic. CONCLUSION: This case series provides clinical, radiological and therapeutic characteristics of hospitalised patients with confirmed COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

Background The 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the globe dramatically. It has affected daily life noticeably and the teaching process is one of the significantly affected aspects as the learning approach has been shifted to distance learning (DL). These new changes may affect student performance and emotional well-being. This study aimed to assess the psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and distance learning on healthcare students. Method An online self-administered cross-sectional survey was distributed to healthcare students for the period between April 2020 to June 2020. The study included students from different universities in Saudi Arabia. Knowledge and perception of COVID-19 and the experience of distance learning during the pandemic period were assessed using a 5-point Likert scale. Psychological effect was evaluated using Four-Item Patient Health Questionnaire for Anxiety and Depression (PHQ-4). Results A total of 721 students completed the survey with the majority being females. Around 25% of students had experienced anxiety, while 35% had depression. Severe anxiety and depression were noted in over 6% of the participants. Younger age and female gender were more affected psychologically. Students with higher scores in PHQ-4 were strongly disagreeing that hand gloves and surgical masks may help in preventing COVID-19 transmission. Students with normal psychological assessment were more likely to favor DL, while students with moderate to severe anxiety and depression disagreed. Conclusion Healthcare students have alarmingly high levels of anxiety and depression during the COVID-19 pandemic. General knowledge of the pandemic is not associated with the psychological impact. DL is a convenient approach for students with normal PHQ-4 scores. Programs to help students overcome the psychological impact of COVID-19 are highly recommended.