Background: Inadequate use of statistics in biomedical research might not only affect science but also harm human beings if applied in medical practice. Biostatistics is fundamental to improve understanding and appraising of evidence-based medicine (EBM); yet, it is still not well understood and appreciated by medical students. Therefore, early exposure of medical students and physicians-in-training to research tools including Biostatistics is of utmost importance. Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the perception of Biostatistics by medical students at a private medical school in Beirut, Lebanon, and to identify its best implementation time in the medical curriculum. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study based on a self-administered questionnaire distributed among medical students in their pre-clerkship years (first three years of a 6-year program) who undertook Biostatistics. The assessment of perception was based on the 5-point Likert scale anchored by Strongly disagree = 1 and Strongly agree = 5 including 36 questions distributed into four domains to assess the course value, difficulty, behavioral, and expectations. Results: 186 of 269 students responded to the questionnaire, yielding a response rate of 69.14%. Around 60% of students declared that the knowledge gained from biostatistics courses is useful to their future career, and almost 70% understood the main concepts of biostatistics. 57.7% of students perceived that lack of practicing exercises might contribute to making the course more difficult. The mean score of domains was higher in females but did not significantly differ within the three academic years. Only 35.1% of the students positively perceived the importance of biostatistics modules, mostly third-year students. Conclusion: Although the majority of medical students perceived biostatistics modules negatively, they were aware of the relevance of biostatistics to their medical career and real-life health issues.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic claimed millions of lives worldwide without clear signs of abating despite several mitigation efforts and vaccination campaigns. There have been tremendous interests in understanding the etiology of the disease particularly in what makes it severe and fatal in certain patients. Studies have shown that COVID-19 patients with kidney injury on admission were more likely to develop severe disease, and acute kidney disease was associated with high mortality in COVID-19 hospitalized patients. Methods This study investigated 819 COVID-19 patients admitted between January 2020-April 2021 to the COVID-19 ward at a tertiary care center in Lebanon and evaluated their vital signs and biomarkers while probing for two main outcomes: intubation and fatality. Logistic and Cox regressions were performed to investigate the association between clinical and metabolic variables and disease outcomes, mainly intubation and mortality. Times were defined in terms of admission and discharge/fatality for COVID-19, with no other exclusions. Results Regression analysis revealed that the following are independent risk factors for both intubation and fatality respectively: diabetes (p = 0.021 and p = 0.04), being overweight (p = 0.021 and p = 0.072), chronic kidney disease (p = 0.045 and p = 0.001), and gender (p = 0.016 and p = 0.114). Further, shortness of breath (p<0.001), age (p<0.001) and being overweight (p = 0.014) associated with intubation, while fatality with shortness of breath (p<0.001) in our group of patients. Elevated level of serum creatinine was the highest factor associated with fatality (p = 0.002), while both white blood count (p<0.001) and serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase levels (p<0.001) emerged as independent risk factors for intubation. Conclusions Collectively our data show that high creatinine levels were significantly associated with fatality in our COVID-19 study patients, underscoring the importance of kidney function as a main modulator of SARS-CoV-2 morbidity and favor a careful and proactive management of patients with elevated creatinine levels on admission.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic claimed millions of lives worldwide without clear signs of abating. There have been tremendous interests in understanding the etiology of the disease particularly in what makes it fatal in certain patients. Methods: This study investigated 819 COVID-19 patients admitted to the COVID-19 ward at a tertiary care center in Lebanon and evaluated their vital signs and biomarkers while probing for two main outcomes: intubation and fatality. Results: Correlation analysis of various comorbidities revealed that hypertension, diabetes, being overweight, kidney disease, cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disease, and gender are independent risk factors for both intubation and fatality. Shortness of breath, age and being overweight correlated with intubation while fatality correlated with shortness of breath in our group of patients. Elevated level of serum creatinine was the highest correlating factor with fatality, while both white blood count and serum glutamic-oxaloacetic transaminase levels emerged as independent risk factors for intubation. Conclusions: Collectively our data show that high creatinine levels are significantly associated with fatality in our COVID-19 study patients, underscoring the importance of kidney function as a main modulator of SARS-CoV-2 morbidity and favor a careful management of patients with elevated creatinine levels on admission.