Search

Around six months have passed since the emergence of an ongoing coronavirus-related health pandemic. In resource-limited countries, healthcare systems with fewer options for intervention are likely to face more economic difficulties. The goal of this review is to summarize and explore the cost and economic effect of COVID-19 on global health systems. The study starts with a crisis synopsis and costs of COVID-19 treatment, then discusses how health has been affected and approaches to alleviating the burden while at the same time limiting an inevitable income loss. Even if it is difficult to project COVID-19 spending because there are many uncertainties about the disease and its future course, various reports have quantified the amounts spent on direct COVID-19 treatment in different countries. The healthcare sector around the world has faced catastrophic financial challenges and experienced the largest global recession in history. Most governments in the world cannot avoid the devastating economic impact of COVID-19 on the healthcare sector, but they can try to avert the worst effects. With the spread of the coronavirus, the healthcare systems are facing a financial crisis as a result of actions that countries have adopted to mitigate the spread of the virus. Therefore, it is crucial to act swiftly and in meaningful ways to minimize the fallout from this shock.

Aim: This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of poor glycemic control and risk factors associated with it among diabetic patients in the central rural region of Saudi Arabia. Methods: The study included a review of diabetic patients’ medical record in King Khaled Hospital in Al-Kharj from the beginning of January 2019 to the end of June 2019. Poor glycemic control was defined as the current use of diabetic-lowering medication associated with HbA1c levels ≥7%. Multivariate analysis was done to identify the associated factors of poor glycemic control. Results: Of 1,010 consecutive outpatients’ diabetic patients were involved in the study sample, poor glycemic control presented in 496 (49.1%). Individuals who were at risk to have poor glycemic control those between 45 and 65 years with odds ratio (OR) of 1.927 (95% CI: 1.143–3.248), obese 1.496 (95% CI: 1.085–2.063) and diagnosed with asthma 2.062 (95% CI: 1.637–3.504). Conclusion: The extent of poor glycemic control in the study sample was found high. Age, obesity, and having asthma are the most important factors of increased risk of poor glycemic control. Improving glycemic control would need rigorous efforts by addressing these factors.

Aim: This review aims to describe the appropriateness of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis during the last decade. Methodology: The review included a searching web of science for articles focused on “the appropriateness of surgical antimicrobial prophylaxis”. The searching process was conducted on 29 Nov 2020 and included original articles so the review articles were excluded. Results: The review included 57 articles; 38 articles were published after 2015 and the rest before 2015. Most of the articles that were included in the review showed a high rate of inappropriate surgical prophylaxis and showed inappropriate duration and time of the antibiotics used. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the rate of surgical prophylaxis inappropriateness was high and the main cause for this result was inappropriate timing and duration. Numerous interventions including educational interventions such as one-time seminars and online e-learning modules are needed to improve the adherence to the guidelines.

Introduction: Hypertension is considered one of the most significant risk factors for mortality and morbidity worldwide. There are major clinical implications for gender-specific pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. It is important to know the potential gender differences in hypertension treatment and to know the prescribing trends in male and female hypertensive patients in order to optimize the treatment of hypertension. Aim: This is a retrospective study that aims to describe the difference in prescribing antihypertensive drugs between male and female patients. Methodology: This is a retrospective study that includes the revision of patient electronic records of outpatients with hypertension in 2018 in Alkharj. Results: The total number of prescribed antihypertensive drugs was 1838 drugs. The calcium channel blocker was the most commonly prescribed antihypertensive class (27.86%). The study showed that there are different patterns of antihypertensive drug use among hypertensive men and women and showed that female patients are more frequently treated with diuretics and less frequently with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptors blockers than male patients. Conclusion: Stratified guidelines and policies based on gender will be appropriate if more studies show a difference in the efficacy and safety of antihypertensive drugs between male and female patients. It is important to conduct more studies about these differences.

Introduction: Hypertension is the most common modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, renal failure, and stroke. Previous studies showed that prescription patterns of antihypertensive drugs varied by gender. Aim: This is a retrospective study that was conducted to describe the difference in prescribing antihypertensive drugs according to patients’ age. Methodology: In this study, the electronic prescriptions of hypertensive patients that were dispensed from the outpatient pharmacy of a public hospital in Alkharj were revised. Results: Generally, older patients are using antihypertensive drugs more than younger adults and their usage pattern of antihypertensive drugs is different according to age. Conclusion: It is important to know the age-related prescribing patterns of antihypertensive drugs and to know the efficacy and safety of these agents in different patients in order to develop an evidence-based and age-appropriate antihypertensive pharmacotherapy.

Aim: This study aimed to analyze acyclovir prescription patterns in a public hospital in AlKharj. Methodology: Cross-sectional study, via hospital pharmacy services that included collecting data on acyclovir utilization from de-identified pharmacy records in maternity and children hospital in Alkharj from 1 Jan 2018 until 31 Aug 2020. Results: A total of 1059 prescriptions contained acyclovir were dispensed between 1 Jan 2018 till 31 Aug 2020. In the present study, acyclovir was prescribed mainly as an intravenous (45.89%) or oral (34.09%) treatment. It is prescribed mainly as a vial (45.89%) followed by suspension (31.63%). Inpatient Ward prescribed 52.60% of the prescriptions and emergency department prescribed 25.87% of the prescriptions. Conclusion: It can be concluded that acyclovir was prescribed commonly in the hospital and that it’s using should be monitored to ensure that it is prescribed and dispensed appropriately.

Introduction: A cesarean section is a life-saving surgery when some complications arise during pregnancy or the process of childbirth. The development of post-caesarean delivery surgical site infections is one of the significant cause of prolonged hospitalization, greater mortality than before, increased morbidity, and increased hospital readmission Aim: This study aims to explore the rate of caesarian section surgical site infection in the military hospital in Alkharj. Methodology: This retrospective study includes collecting data from the infection control unit in a military hospital in Alkharj in 2019. Results: The total number of caesarian surgeries in 2019 was 756 surgeries. The surgical site infections percentage in 2019 was 1.19%. The percentage of caesarian section surgical site infections was 0% in several moths such as in January, April, June, Sept, and December. The highest percentage was in May and July (2.5%). Conclusion: The surgical site infections incidence in the present study was low (about 1.2 %) but because the percentage is usually underestimated and because the rate of delivery by caesarean section is increasing continuously, monitoring of women for several weeks after caesarian surgeries are necessary.

Aims: The present study was designed to identify and assess the severity of azithromycin interactions with other drugs in the outpatient setting in Alkharj. Methodology: A retrospective analysis was performed of azithromycin prescriptions in the outpatient setting in a public hospital in Alkharj in order to determine the incidence of interactions between azithromycin and other medications. Results: There were 182 prescriptions included in the study. There was a major interaction in only 1 prescription (0.55%) and moderate interactions in 15.30% of the prescriptions. So the percentage of overall interactions was about 20.88%. The most common drug interactions in the present study were between azithromycin and salbutamol. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the interactions between azithromycin with other medications were common, but these interactions could lead to irregular heart rhythm and lead to muscle pain and weakness. Adoption of international standard and locally conformable guidelines of antibiotic use can help in avoiding such problems.

Aim: Lipid-lowering drugs are used to decrease low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and as a result, they are used in both secondary and primary prevention of cardiovascular diseases. This study aimed to observe the prescribing trend of lipid-lowering drugs and to describe the gender and age-related differences in the outpatient setting of a public hospital in Alkharj city. Methodology: This is a cross-sectional observational study that was conducted in outpatient setting of a public hospital in Alkharj city and included the review of electronic outpatient prescriptions. The data was collected and analyzed using Excel software; the descriptive data were represented by percentages and numbers. Results: The most prescribed lipid-lowering drug in the present study was atorvastatin (62.36%) followed by simvastatin (29.34%). The study found that there are several differences in lipid lowering medications use patterns among different gender and age groups. Therefore, frequent reviews of lipid-lowering drugs use and prescribing pattern are important to optimize patients’ treatment. Conclusion: It is important in the future to make stratified guidelines based on patient characteristics such as age and gender.