Seeing the unforeseen: an insight into kingdom-wide psychological impact of COVID-19 pandemic

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the manuscript was to measure the levels of psychological stress, both acute and post-traumatic in the Saudi Arabian population during the situation resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A cross-sectional survey was carried out among people of Saudi Arabia (SA) to measure levels of psychological stress, both acute and post-traumatic during the COVID-19 outbreak. Data were collected from five regions in SA using validated questionnaires including Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) and Impact of Events Scale (IES) through social media channels from March 2021 to January 2022.

RESULTS

The total number of participants was 1,560. Most of participants (60.2%) were females. Around 53.6% of the sample were aged between 16-24 years old. The majority of participants (87.3%) was Saudi national. About 82% of participants was from Eastern (40.1%) and Western (42.2%) regions, followed by those from Central, Northern, and Southern. More than 60% of them had a college degree or above. The mean K 10 score was 28.33 for the sample which was above the cut-off of 25, implying significant levels of acute stress in the sample. IES values showed a mean of 28.19, well above the cut-off of significant Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms (24). K-10 and IES scores revealed that about 76.7% of the participants suffered from significant acute stress and 59.1% suffered from symptoms of PTSD during the COVID-19 era.

CONCLUSIONS

The nationwide study emphasizes the fact that the Saudi population was found to be extremely stressed and traumatized during the COVID-19 pandemic era and calls for effective.

Assessment of knowledge about childhood autism spectrum disorder among healthcare workers in Makkah- Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE

To measure the knowledge of healthcare professionals about increasingly prevalent Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) along with perceptions around its management and prognosis and comparison across various specialties.

METHODS

This Cross sectional survey based comparative analysis took place at Maternity and Children Hospital and King Faisal Hospital Makkah from December 2017 to May 2018. The validated self-administered "Knowledge about childhood autism among health workers" questionnaire was used along with additional questions regarding perceptions about ASD. The mean and mean percent scores were calculated. Chi squared test and ANOVA were applied to find the association between quantitative and qualitative variables respectively.

RESULTS

Out of 162 participants, 153 returned the questionnaire and 147 were included in final analysis. Physicians constituted 81.6% (120) of participants. The mean score for participants was 9.80(S.E.M ±0.32) where non-physicians yielded higher mean score (11.2±4.41) as compared to physicians (9.6±3.28) (p=0.113). Psychiatrists had highest score of 16/19 while general physicians had lowest (6/19). Participants with more years of experience had higher mean scores (p-value = 0.01). About 72.10% (106) of participants opted for medication as a treatment option. Nearly 38.1% (56) of participants were skeptical about improvement of ASD with early interventions.

CONCLUSION

There is a lack of knowledge about ASD amongst healthcare professionals in Saudi Arabia. Experienced professionals working with ASD children can be utilized to deliver targeted trainings nationwide.

Patients leaving against medical advice: an inpatient psychiatric hospital-based study

OBJECTIVE

To determine the frequency of patients leaving against medical advice (LAMA) in an inpatient psychiatric facility in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.

STUDY DESIGN

Descriptive cross-sectional study.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY

Institute of Psychiatry, Benazir Bhutto Hospital, Rawalpindi, from August 2010 to February 2011.

METHODOLOGY

Patients who got admitted during study period irrespective of duration of illness and mode of admission were recruited through non-probability consecutive sampling and followed till discharge to determine their mode of leaving hospital. A thirteen-item proforma was developed and information was obtained on demographic, socioeconomic, patient related and disease related variables. Descriptive statistics were calculated on SPSS 14.

RESULTS

The total number (n) of participants was 246. Among the participants, 96 (39%) left against medical advice (LAMA) whereas 150 (61%) left on regular discharge on physician's advice. Frequency of patients who left against medical advice was found to be more in males (63.5%), younger age groups (21 - 30 years), lesser educated (more than half were under matric) and with the ICD-10 diagnosis of substance abuse (23.9%). About half of patients who LAMA had a prior history of psychiatric illness and a significant number (37.5%) had a history of previous psychiatric admission.

CONCLUSION

Leaving against medical advice is a frequent problem in psychiatric inpatients and is a matter of great concern for the treating doctors.