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Objectives: To evaluate patient activation in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients using patient activation measure 13 (PAM‐13) on a national level in Saudi Arabia. Method: A national survey was administered across multiple centers in Saudi Arabia. Patient activation was assessed using the PAM‐13. The Compliance Questionnaire for Rheumatology (CQR) and the RA Impact of Disease (RAID) tool were also administered. The data from the survey were analyzed, and the results were stratified based on activation level. All factors affecting patient activation were explored and reported. Results: A total of 1241 participants were included. Most of the patients were females (85%), the mean age was 47 (±14), and most patients lived in the central region (47%). The mean (±standard deviation) patient activation score was 578.7 (±13.0). Patient activation was affected by multiple factors: demographic characteristics, such as education, with a beta value of 1.11 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.64 ̶1.58, p <.001). Higher CQR scores were associated with higher activation levels, with a beta value of 2.61 (95% CI 0.80 ̶4.44, p =.005), and higher RAID scores were associated with lower activation levels, with a beta value of 3.13 (95% CI 1.36 ̶4.91, p =.001). Conclusions: Patient activation was affected by several demographic characteristics and the impact of RA. A higher activation may improve compliance. Future longitudinal studies are required to confirm these findings and should explore the underlying mechanism of these effects. Keypoints: Patient activation was assessed at the national level.Patient activity in rheumatoid arthritis is affected by multiple demographics.Disease activity is affected by activation.Compliance is affected by the level of activation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Compliance is essential to achieve treatment goals in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. The current study evaluated compliance and related factors in a large and diverse population. Patients and Methods: Patients with RA who received active treatment were invited to participate in an online survey. The Arabic versions of the 5-Item Compliance Questionnaire for Rheumatology (ACQR-5) and the RA Impact of Disease (RAID) were used to measure compliance and disability, respectively. The patients were sub-grouped based on background disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (DMARDs). Variables associated with high compliance were selected for the logistic regression analysis. Results: A total of 1241 patients completed the survey and were included in the final analysis. Of those, 1055 (85%) were females with a mean (±SD) age and disease duration of 47.14 ± 13.71 and 8.77 ± 7.43 years, respectively. The mean RAID was 4.4± 2.58, with 980 (79%) having an unacceptable level state. Patients with an unacceptable RAID level had a lower compliance rate (78.8% vs 85.8%, p = 0.001). Demographics associated with high compliance were female sex and increased age, with reported odds ratios of 1.018 (95% CI: 1.007– 1.028) and 1.464 (95% CI: 1.016– 2.108), respectively. Compliance was similar between patients on Janus kinase inhibitors or biological DMARDs (88.14% vs 80.83%, p = 0.17), between monotherapy, double therapy, or triple therapy recipients (80% vs 82.23% vs 81.32%, p = 0.665), and between patients receiving injectable and oral therapy (77.32% vs 81.14%, p = 0.246). Conclusion: A high compliance level was observed in this population, with patient demographics influencing compliance rather than the medication type or route of administration. Interventional studies should focus on the of high-risk patients identified in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Objectives: The objective of this study is to reach a model defining factors precipitating short survival in patients with oesophageal varices and improving the understanding of such factors. Models would help to prioritize the clinical goals and intervention for saving the lives of patients. Methods: Retrospective analysis of all patients admitted to King Abdul Aziz University Hospital who had been diagnosed with oesophageal varices. The patients' demographics, disease history, physical examination, viral infections, parasitic infections, blood pictures, cancer biomarkers, liver enzymes and bleeding details were collected, tested for correlation with mortality to formulate a model. Results: A total of 148 patients were included in this study. 37 clinical variables were studied only 15 factors were found to have a statistical significance. These factors were PT (RC=0.17338 P-value 0.00011), APTT (RC=0.07916, P-value 0.00002), haemoglobin level (RC=-0.44748, P-value <0.0001), WBC (RC = 0.22255, P-value 0.00001), serum albumin level (RC=-0.12953, P-value 0.00001), serum creatinine (RC=0.01483, P-value 0.00002), at least one incidence of encephalopathy Bahlas (RC=1.80500, P-value 0.00014), total bilirubin (RC=0.01371, P-value 0.00016), direct bilirubin (RC=0.01298, P-value 0.00357, serum AST (RC=0.00914, P-value 0.00462), presence of at least bleeding event (RC=1.03373, P-value 0.00613), ascites grade I (RC=-1.57435, P-value 0.00967), SBP (RC=1.47216, P-value 0.01581), platelets count (RC=0.00398, P-value 0.03476) and oesophageal varices (RC = -1.42139, P-value 0.03673). Only 5 factors were likely to affect the mortality status. These factors were encephalopathy, spontaneous SBP, bleeding, ascites and grade of oesophageal varices. Six models were then formulated. Conclusion: These models should be retested in larger study groups to test their reliability in order to use them as surrogate end point in future clinical studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic autoimmune inflammatory disease of unknown etiology, characterised by symmetric erosive synovitis, leading inevitably to the destruction of cartilage and bone as well as bursa and tendon sheaths of joints. Our aim of this study was to decipher the differential expression of cytokines, chemokines and growth factors in the plasma of RA patients with active disease, using magnetic bead-based Luminex Multiple Analyte Profiling (xMAP) technology, for precision medicine., Methods: We obtained plasma samples from RA patients (n=25) from the Rheumatology Clinic at the King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) after written informed consent for their inclusion in this study. Besides, we have used the plasma samples from inflammatory osteoarthritis (OA) patients (n=10) and healthy volunteers (n=10) for comparison analyses. Plasma samples were examined using the Human Cytokine Magnetic 30-plex panel (Novex®), Invitrogen, USA) and analysed by MAGPIX® instrument (Luminex Corporation, USA)., Results: Though several pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines and growth factors present in the 30plex magnetic bead panel were not significantly (p>0.05) increased in the plasma of RA patients, the levels of plasma Th1 associated proinflammatory cytokines TNFα, and IL-6 and Th2 associated cytokines such as IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13 were significantly (p<0.05) upregulated compared to OA and normal controls. The proinflammatory IL-12 as well as anti-inflammatory IL-10 and IL-1RA were significantly (p<0.05) upregulated in the plasma of RA patients compared to normal controls. Also, the chemokines such as IP-10, RANTES and IL-8 as well as growth factors such as EGF, and VEGF were significantly (p<0.05) increased in RA., Conclusions: The MAGPIX data showed that the cytokines, chemokines and growth factors were differentially regulated systemically in patients with active RA compared to OA and normal controls. Hence, the Luminex xMAP technology-based multiplex immunoassays offer clues to formulate effective therapeutic strategies for RA patients with active disease irrespective of their treatment regimen and duration of treatment and, thus, an indispensable tool in precision medicine.

The objective of this study was to determine the patterns of bacterial isolates found in blood culture of patients with bactermia in King Abdul Aziz University Hospital in addition to determination of antibiotic resistance. A retrospective analysis of the 672 positive samples collected over the period of December 2006-December 2008. The observed mean age was 40 years with comparable distribution in both genders. 65.2% of the population were Non-Saudi. 65.5% of isolates were Gram positive, mainly Staphylococcus epidermidis, on the other hand Klebsiella was the common Gram negative bacteria. Diabetes has been observed in 38.5%. Mortality was 32.4 (P-value 0.001) in diabetic patients versus non-diabetics. Benzyl penicillin, clindamycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, ciprofloxacin, oxacillin caused resistance to more than 50% of Gram positive organisms whereas antimicrobial resistance to ampicillin, nitrofurantoin, levofloxacin, piperacillin, cefuroxime and cefuroxime was found in Gram negative isolates. To conclude vancomycin, teicoplanin, linizolid, and piperacillin/tazobactam, were effective antimicrobial agents against the majority of bacterial isolates. Gram positive organisms are the common cause of bactermia. The highest risk of mortality is associated with Streptococcus pyogenes.