22 results on '"Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad"'
Search Results
2. Epidemiology of SARS-CoV2 in Qatar’s primary care population aged 10 years and above
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Syed, Mohamed Ahmed, Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Sameer, A/Qotba, Hamda Abdulla, Nasrallah, Gheyath K., Althani, Asmaa A., Yassine, Hadi M., Zainel, Abduljaleel Abdullatif, Khudadad, Hanan, Marji, Tamara, Veettil, Shajitha Thekke, Al-Jighefee, Hadeel T., Younes, Salma, Shurrab, Farah, Al-Sadeq, Duaa W., AlFehaidi, Al Anoud Saleh, Yfakhroo, Ameena Ibrahim, AlMesaifri, Meshal Abdulla, Al Mujalli, Hanan, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, Al Kuwari, Mohamed Ghaith, Azad, Faruk Mohammed, Al Malki, Badria Ali Mohamed, and Abdulmalik, Mariam Ali
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- 2021
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3. Association of Serum Vitamin D level and COVID-19 infection: A Case-control Study
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Abdrabbo AlYafei, Najat, primary, Fathima Jaleel, Bushra Naaz, additional, Abdel-Salam, Abdel-Salam G., additional, Ali Al-Saadi, Hamda, additional, and Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, additional
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- 2022
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4. Epidemiology of SARS-CoV2 in Qatar’s primary care population aged 10 years and above
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Syed, Mohamed Ahmed, Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Sameer, A/Qotba, Hamda Abdulla, Nasrallah, Gheyath K., Althani, Asmaa A., Yassine, Hadi M., Zainel, Abduljaleel Abdullatif, Khudadad, Hanan, Marji, Tamara, Veettil, Shajitha Thekke, Al-Jighefee, Hadeel T., Younes, Salma, Shurrab, Farah, Al-Sadeq, Duaa W., AlFehaidi, Al Anoud Saleh, Yfakhroo, Ameena Ibrahim, AlMesaifri, Meshal Abdulla, Al Mujalli, Hanan, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, Al Kuwari, Mohamed Ghaith, Azad, Faruk Mohammed, Al Malki, Badria Ali Mohamed, and Abdulmalik, Mariam Ali
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Clinical sciences - Abstract
Background There is an urgent need to elucidate the epidemiology of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) and characterize its potential impact. Investing in characterising the SARS-CoV2 will help plan and improve the response to the pandemic. Furthermore, it will help identify the most efficient ways of managing the pandemic, avoiding public health policies and interventions that may be unduly restrictive of normal activity or unnecessarily costly. This paper describes the design and reports findings of a population based epidemiological study undertaken to characterise SARS-CoV2 in Qatar using limited resources in a timely manner. Methods Asymptomatic individuals ≥10 years registered with Qatar’s publicly funded primary health provider were eligible. A stratified random sampling technique was utilized to identify the study sample. Participants were invited to an appointment where they completed a questionnaire and provided samples for polymerase chain reaction and Immunoglobulin M and G immunoassay tests. Data collected were analyzed to calculate point and period prevalence by sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics. Results Of 18,918 individuals invited for the study, 2084 participated (response rate 10.8%). The overall point prevalence and period prevalence were estimated to be 1.6% (95% CI 1.1–2.2) and 14.6% (95% CI 13.1–16.2) respectively. Period prevalence of SARS-CoV2 infection was not considerably different across age groups (9.7–19.8%). It was higher in males compared to females (16.2 and 12.7% respectively). A significant variation was observed by nationality (7.1 to 22.2%) and municipalities (6.9–35.3%). Conclusions The study provides an example of a methodologically robust approach that can be undertaken in a timely manner with limited resources. It reports much-needed epidemiological data about the spread of SARS-CoV2. Given the low prevalence rates, majority of the population in Qatar remains susceptible. Enhanced surveillance must continue to be in place, particularly due to the large number of asymptomatic cases observed. Robust contact tracing and social distancing measures are key to prevent future outbreaks.Other Information Published in: BMC Infectious Diseases License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0See article on publisher's website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12879-021-06251-z
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- 2022
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5. Telephone and Video Consultations within Qatar's Primary Health Care Corporation
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Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, primary and Mansaray, Mariama, additional
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- 2022
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6. Epidemiological health assessment in primary healthcare in the State of Qatar- 2019
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Al-Kuwari, Mohamed Ghaith, primary, Al-Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, additional, Abdulla, Maha Yousef, additional, Haj Bakri, Ahmad, additional, Mustafa Mohammed, Azza, additional, Chettiyam Kandy, Mujeeb, additional, Patterson, Amanda, additional, and Illiayaraja Krishnan, Jeyaram, additional
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- 2021
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7. Improving clinical outcomes for type 2 diabetes patients using teleconsultations during the COVID-19 pandemic
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Al-Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, primary and Mansaray, Mariama, additional
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- 2021
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8. Additional file 1 of Epidemiology of SARS-CoV2 in Qatar’s primary care population aged 10 years and above
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Syed, Mohamed Ahmed, Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Sameer, A/Qotba, Hamda Abdulla, Nasrallah, Gheyath K., Althani, Asmaa A., Yassine, Hadi M., Zainel, Abduljaleel Abdullatif, Khudadad, Hanan, Marji, Tamara, Veettil, Shajitha Thekke, Al-Jighefee, Hadeel T., Younes, Salma, Shurrab, Farah, Al-Sadeq, Duaa W., AlFehaidi, Al Anoud Saleh, Yfakhroo, Ameena Ibrahim, AlMesaifri, Meshal Abdulla, Al Mujalli, Hanan, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, Al Kuwari, Mohamed Ghaith, Azad, Faruk Mohammed, Al Malki, Badria Ali Mohamed, and Abdulmalik, Mariam Ali
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Additional file 1: Table S1.. Study strata. Table S2. Sample size determination and response rate by strata. Table S3. Validity parameters for IgG serology. Table S4. Nationality categories. Table S5. Point prevalence ratios of SARS-CoV2 by age, gender, nationality and municipality. Table S6. Period prevalence ratios of SARS-CoV2 by age, gender, nationality and municipality. Table S7. Period prevalence ratios of SARS-CoV2 by sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics.
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- 2021
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9. sj-docx-1-jpc-10.1177_21501327211050569 – Supplemental material for Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2: A Cohort Study in Qatar’s Primary Care Settings
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Syed, Mohamed Ahmed, A/Qotba, Hamda Abdulla, Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Sameer, Nasrallah, Gheyath K., Althani, Asmaa Ali J. F., Zainel, Abduljaleel Abdullatif, Khudadad, Hanan, Marji, Tamara, Veettil, Shajitha Thekke, AlFehaidi, AlAnoud Saleh, Yfakhroo, Ameena Ibrahim, AlMesaifri, Meshal Abdulla, Al-Baghdadi, Tholfakhar Talib, Al Mujalli, Hanan, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, and Abdulmalik, Mariam Ali
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111708 Health and Community Services ,111799 Public Health and Health Services not elsewhere classified ,FOS: Health sciences - Abstract
Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-jpc-10.1177_21501327211050569 for Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2: A Cohort Study in Qatar’s Primary Care Settings by Mohamed Ahmed Syed, Hamda Abdulla A/Qotba, Ahmed Sameer Al Nuaimi, Gheyath K. Nasrallah, Asmaa Ali J. F. Althani, Abduljaleel Abdullatif Zainel, Hanan Khudadad, Tamara Marji, Shajitha Thekke Veettil, AlAnoud Saleh AlFehaidi, Ameena Ibrahim Yfakhroo, Meshal Abdulla AlMesaifri, Tholfakhar Talib Al-Baghdadi, Hanan Al Mujalli, Samya Ahmad Al Abdulla and Mariam Ali Abdulmalik in Journal of Primary Care & Community Health
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- 2021
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10. Epidemiological health assessment in primary health care in the State of Qatar-2019
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Al-Kuwari, Mohamed Ghaith, primary, Al – Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, additional, Abdulla, Maha Yousef, additional, Bakri, Ahmad Haj, additional, Mohammed, Azza Mustafa, additional, Kandy, Mujeeb Chettiyam, additional, and Patterson, Amanda, additional
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- 2021
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11. Perspectives of Healthcare Professionals Toward Interprofessional Collaboration in Primary Care Settings in a Middle Eastern Country
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El-Awaisi, Alla, primary, Awaisu, Ahmed, additional, Aboelbaha, Shimaa, additional, Abedini, Zeinab, additional, Johnson, Jessie, additional, and Al-Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, additional
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- 2021
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12. Antibody Response to SARS-CoV-2: A Cohort Study in Qatar’s Primary Care Settings
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Syed, Mohamed Ahmed, primary, A/Qotba, Hamda Abdulla, additional, Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Sameer, additional, Nasrallah, Gheyath K., additional, Althani, Asmaa Ali J. F., additional, Zainel, Abduljaleel Abdullatif, additional, Khudadad, Hanan, additional, Marji, Tamara, additional, Veettil, Shajitha Thekke, additional, AlFehaidi, AlAnoud Saleh, additional, Yfakhroo, Ameena Ibrahim, additional, AlMesaifri, Meshal Abdulla, additional, Al-Baghdadi, Tholfakhar Talib, additional, Al Mujalli, Hanan, additional, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, additional, and Abdulmalik, Mariam Ali, additional
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- 2021
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13. Epidemiology of SARS-CoV2 in Qatar's primary care population aged 10 years and above
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Syed, Mohamed Ahmed, Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Sameer, A/Qotba, Hamda Abdulla, Nasrallah, Gheyath K, Althani, Asmaa A, Yassine, Hadi M, Zainel, Abduljaleel Abdullatif, Khudadad, Hanan, Marji, Tamara, Veettil, Shajitha Thekke, Al-Jighefee, Hadeel T, Younes, Salma, Shurrab, Farah, Al-Sadeq, Duaa W, AlFehaidi, Al Anoud Saleh, Yfakhroo, Ameena Ibrahim, AlMesaifri, Meshal Abdulla, Al Mujalli, Hanan, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, Al Kuwari, Mohamed Ghaith, Azad, Faruk Mohammed, Al Malki, Badria Ali Mohamed, and Abdulmalik, Mariam Ali
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Adult ,Aged, 80 and over ,Male ,Adolescent ,Primary Health Care ,SARS-CoV-2 ,Epidemiology ,COVID-19 ,Middle Aged ,Primary care ,Young Adult ,SARS-CoV2 ,Prevalence ,Humans ,Female ,Covid-19 ,Child ,Qatar ,Aged ,Research Article - Abstract
There is an urgent need to elucidate the epidemiology of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) and characterize its potential impact. Investing in characterising the SARS-CoV2 will help plan and improve the response to the pandemic. Furthermore, it will help identify the most efficient ways of managing the pandemic, avoiding public health policies and interventions that may be unduly restrictive of normal activity or unnecessarily costly. This paper describes the design and reports findings of a population based epidemiological study undertaken to characterise SARS-CoV2 in Qatar using limited resources in a timely manner. Asymptomatic individuals ≥10 years registered with Qatar's publicly funded primary health provider were eligible. A stratified random sampling technique was utilized to identify the study sample. Participants were invited to an appointment where they completed a questionnaire and provided samples for polymerase chain reaction and Immunoglobulin M and G immunoassay tests. Data collected were analyzed to calculate point and period prevalence by sociodemographic, lifestyle and clinical characteristics. Of 18,918 individuals invited for the study, 2084 participated (response rate 10.8%). The overall point prevalence and period prevalence were estimated to be 1.6% (95% CI 1.1-2.2) and 14.6% (95% CI 13.1-16.2) respectively. Period prevalence of SARS-CoV2 infection was not considerably different across age groups (9.7-19.8%). It was higher in males compared to females (16.2 and 12.7% respectively). A significant variation was observed by nationality (7.1 to 22.2%) and municipalities (6.9-35.3%). The study provides an example of a methodologically robust approach that can be undertaken in a timely manner with limited resources. It reports much-needed epidemiological data about the spread of SARS-CoV2. Given the low prevalence rates, majority of the population in Qatar remains susceptible. Enhanced surveillance must continue to be in place, particularly due to the large number of asymptomatic cases observed. Robust contact tracing and social distancing measures are key to prevent future outbreaks. This study was funded by PHCC. The funders had no role in the design, analysis, interpretation, or writing. The first three authors had full access to all the data had final responsibility for the decision to submit for publication. Open Access funding provided by the Qatar National Library
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- 2020
14. Estimating point prevalence of COVID-19 in Qatar’s primary care registered population: an RT-PCR drive-through study protocol
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Syed, Mohamed Ahmed, primary, Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Sameer, additional, A/Qotba, Hamda Abdulla, additional, Al Mujjali, Hanan, additional, Abdulmalik, Mariam Ali, additional, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, additional, Aladab, Aisha Hussain, additional, Kutty, Kiran Govindan, additional, and Hamed, Ehab Said, additional
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- 2020
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15. Primary care mental health services in Qatar
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Wadoo, Ovais, primary, Ahmed, Mohamed Ali Siddig, additional, Reagu, Shuja, additional, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, additional, and Al Abdulla, Majid Ali Y. A., additional
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- 2020
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16. Estimating point prevalence of COVID-19 in Qatar’s primary care registered population: an RT-PCR drive-through study protocol.
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Syed, Mohamed Ahmed, Al Nuaimi, Ahmed Sameer, A/Qotba, Hamda Abdulla, Mujjali, Hanan Al, Abdulmalik, Mariam Ali, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, Aladab, Aisha Hussain, Kutty, Kiran Govindan, and Hamed, Ehab Said
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COVID-19 ,DISEASE prevalence ,PRIMARY health care ,EPIDEMIOLOGY ,ELECTRONIC health records - Abstract
Background: The first COVID-19 cases in Qatar were reported on 29 February 2020. As the epidemic progresses, essential epidemiological information is needed to facilitate monitoring of COVID-19 in the population and plan the pandemic response in Qatar. Aim: The primary aim of this cross-sectional study is to estimate the point prevalence of COVID-19 in Qatar’s primary care registered population. Design & setting: A cross-sectional study design will be utilised. One publicly funded health centre from each of three geographical regions in Qatar will be identified as a study location and set up to facilitate a drive-through for the study. Method: Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) is publicly funded and the largest primary care provider in Qatar. The study will include randomly selected individuals from the full list of PHCC's registered population on its electronic medical records system. The sample selection will be done using a proportional to size sampling technique stratified by age, sex, and nationality representative of the overall PHCC-registered population. Considering the total population registered in PHCC, a sample of 2080 is proposed. A questionnaire will be administered to collect sociodemographic information, and nasal and throat swab samples will be taken. Data will be analysed to report overall symptomatic and asymptomatic point prevalence of COVID-19. Conclusion: This study, with the help of a randomly selected representative sample from Qatar’s primary care registered population, will provide results that can be applied to the entire population. This study design will closely represent a real-world scenario of the outbreak and is likely to provide important data to guide COVID-19 pandemic planning and response in Qatar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
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17. Primary care mental health services in Qatar.
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Wadoo, Ovais, Ahmed, Mohamed Ali Siddig, Reagu, Shuja, Al Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, and Al Abdulla, Majid Ali Y. A.
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MENTAL health services ,MEDICAL care ,PRIMARY care ,SECONDARY care (Medicine) ,MENTAL health - Abstract
With rapid growth and development in recent decades, the State of Qatar has been redefining strategies and policies towards building a world-class healthcare system. Mental health has emerged as a priority area for development. As a result, mental health services in the region are being redefined and expanded, and this was realised with the launching of the ambitious National Mental Health Strategy in 2013. Traditionally, mental healthcare in Qatar had been considered to be the remit of psychiatrists within secondary care. The new strategy supported the transition towards community-based care. It outlined a plan to design and build a comprehensive and integrated mental health system, offering treatment in a range of settings. In this article, we provide an overview of the advent of primary care mental health services in Qatar. We discuss the historical aspects of psychiatric care and development of primary care mental health services in Qatar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
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18. Medication-Related Burden among Patients with Chronic Disease Conditions: Perspectives of Patients Attending Non-Communicable Disease Clinics in a Primary Healthcare Setting in Qatar
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Zidan, Amani, primary, Awisu, Ahmed, additional, El-Hajj, Maguy Saffouh, additional, Al-Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, additional, Figueroa, Dianne Candy Rose, additional, and Kheir, Nadir, additional
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- 2018
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19. A qualitative exploration of barriers to medication adherence among patients with uncontrolled diabetes in Qatar: integrating perspectives of patients and health care providers.
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Jaam, Myriam, Hadi, Muhammad Abdul, Kheir, Nadir, Ibrahim, Mohamed Izham Mohamed, Diab, Mohammad Issam, Al-Abdulla, Samya Ahmad, and Awaisu, Ahmed
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PATIENT compliance ,TREATMENT of diabetes ,PRIMARY health care ,HEALTH counseling - Abstract
Purpose: To develop an in-depth understanding of the barriers to medication adherence among patients with uncontrolled diabetes attending primary health care (PHC) centers in Qatar by exploring and integrating patients' and health care providers' perspectives. Participants and methods: A descriptive qualitative methodology was used in this study. A trained researcher conducted semi-structured face-to-face interviews at two PHC centers. Patients with uncontrolled diabetes (with varied sociodemographic characteristics) and their respective health care providers (physicians, pharmacists, nurses, dieticians, and others) were purposively selected from the two PHC centers. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Thirty interviews (14 patients and 16 health care providers) were conducted. A number of barriers to medication adherence were identified and classified broadly under three main themes: 1) patient-related factors, which included patients' individual characteristics and patients' perception, attitude, and behavior; 2) patient–provider factors, which included communication and having multiple health care providers caring for the patient; and 3) societal and environmental factors, which included social pressure and traveling to visit friends and relatives. Conclusion: Patients with uncontrolled diabetes face multiple barriers to medication adherence. Similar themes emerged from both patients and their care providers. This research highlights the need for concerted multidimensional efforts and series of interventions to overcome these barriers. One vital intervention is expanding the scope of pharmacists' role within the PHC centers through providing medication reconciliation, patient-tailored medication counseling, and medicines use review, which may improve treatment outcomes among patients with diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2018
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20. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the delivery of primary health care services.
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Al-Abdulla, Samya Ahmad and O'Dwyer, Robin
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PRIMARY health care ,MEDICAL care ,COVID-19 pandemic ,PRIMARY care ,PHYSICIANS ,MEDICAL triage - Abstract
Background: In response to the COVID-19 global pandemic the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) in Qatar recognized the need to limit face-to-face consultations within health centers in order to prevent unnecessary spread of the virus by offering an alternative solution for patients to access primary health care. PHCC responded by establishing teleconsultation services (telephone and video) within health centers and establishing a community call center offering teleconsultations for family medicine, ophthalmology, and dentistry services, with a nursing tele-triage service operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Methods: All previously booked appointments within health centers were converted to outbound telephone consultations. The community call center was widely advertised and received incoming patient inquiries. This led to an analysis of the teleconsultation service utilization on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Results: The 27 health centers successfully provided 703,845 teleconsultations (via video and telephone calls) between 1st April and 31st October 2020 compared to 964,285 in-person consultations (Table 1). A significant percentage of patients continue to opt for a telephone consultation rather than a face-to-face visit. Between 29th March and 28th November 2020, the community call center received a total of 159,137 calls with 61% of calls managed and resolved by a nurse, without the need for a consultation by a physician. Conclusion: The rapid response by PHCC to find alternative means to offer primary health care services during a pandemic was activated early and the public responded positively. Teleconsultation services within Qatar have been widely accepted by patients who have more choices to access primary care services. Since April 2020, when teleconsultations were fully implemented in PHCC, to October 2020, 42% of all consultations have been via teleconsultation (Table 1). Teleconsultation services both within health centers and the community call center, offer an alternative means of care delivery, empowering patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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- 2021
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21. Large-scale sporting events during the COVID-19 pandemic: insights from the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar with an analysis of patterns of COVID-19 metrics.
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Dergaa I, Ben Saad H, Zmijewski P, Farhat RA, Romdhani M, Souissi A, Washif JA, Taheri M, Guelmami N, Souissi N, Chamari K, and Al Abdulla SA
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The 2022 FIFA World Cup (FIFA-WC) held in Qatar presented unique challenges, given the potential for rapid transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) among over 1.4 million international fans attending the event. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the FIFA-WC 2022 on COVID-19 cases, deaths, and reproduction rate (R0) in Qatar. Additionally, it sought to understand the implications of hosting large-scale events during a pandemic without COVID-19 restrictive measures, providing critical insights for future decision-making. Data from "Our World in Data" were analysed for three distinct periods: one week before the FIFA-WC (week-preWC), the four weeks of the event (week-1WC to week-4WC), and one week after (week-postWC). The results revealed a significant increase in COVID-19 cases during week-3WC and week-4WC (compared to week-preWC) in Qatar, followed by a subsequent decrease during the week-postWC. Notably, Qatar experienced a more pronounced surge in positive cases than the global trend. Regarding COVID-19-related deaths, Qatar's peak occurred during week-2WC, while globally deaths peaked from week-3WC to week-postWC. Nevertheless, Qatar's death toll remained relatively low compared to the global trend throughout the event. The findings highlight that the FIFA-WC 2022 in Qatar demonstrated the feasibility of organizing large-scale sporting events during a pandemic with appropriate measures in place. They emphasize the importance of high vaccination coverage, continuous monitoring, and effective collaboration between event organizers, healthcare authorities, and governments. As such, the event serves as a valuable model for future gatherings, underlining the significance of evidence-based decision-making and comprehensive public health preparedness., Competing Interests: The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants, or patents received or pending, or royalties. We declare that no Natural Language Processing or Large Language Model technologies have been used at any phase of the manuscript writing process [22]., (Copyright © Biology of Sport 2023.)
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- 2023
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22. The impact of COVID-19 on primary health care services in Qatar: 2 years of response and coping 2020-2021.
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Al Kuwari MG, Bakri AH, Kandy MC, Gibb JM, Abdulla MY, Al Abdulla SA, and Abdulmalik MA
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Background: Health care systems worldwide have rapidly responded to manage the COVID-19 pandemic by providing screening tests, contact tracing, treatment, and vaccination. However, the long duration of the pandemic has had an enormous load on the health care systems, which disrupted continuity of the essential non-covid services, long waiting time for appointments, and increase in the utilization of telemedicine services. Primary health care was established as an essential foundation for the global response to the COVID-19. In Qatar, Primary Heath Care Corporation (PHCC), the main primary care services provided played a major role in the response to the pandemic. However, its services were affected and disrupted, and new services were added. Hence, the aim of this analysis is to understand the long-term impact of the COVID-19 on the services provided by PHCC in Qatar in terms of PHCC pandemic response, change in utilization of the core, and preventative services, and the introduction of new alternative services., Methods: A retrospective data analysis was conducted for all the appointments and visits for all the PHCC health centers in the years of 2020 and 2021. The study conducted a comparison of the services utilizations using the utilization figures of PHCC services between 1
st of January and 31st of December 2019 as a reference year. The differences in the utilization per service were presented in frequencies and percentages., Results: The in-person services dropped drastically in 2020 at 36% reduction in compassion to 2019. However, the newly introduced virtual consultation services in 2020 reached their highest utilization figures in 2021 at 908,965 virtual visits. The COVID-19 specific related services ranging from the COVID-19 drive-through testing to vaccine administration constituted a total number of 2,836,127 visits corresponding to 44% of the total PHCC services utilization visits in 2021. In 2021, PHCC dental services dropped by 25.2%. The most noticeable utilization drops in 2021 were among the preventative services with 53.2% and 78.9% in colorectal screening and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) risk factors annual screening services, respectively. However, mental health services have witnessed a surge in utilization at 134.1% increase in 2021 in comparison to 2019., Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a disruption in the PHCC utilization of core services, namely dental services. Additionally, PHCC preventive services utilizations were affected drastically including cancer and NCDs risk factors annual screening. Nevertheless, PHCC managed to provide alternative virtual services and played a vital role in responding to the pandemic by leading the COVID-19 vaccination campaign in Qatar. However, future research is needed to establish which vulnerable patient groups were most affected by the pandemic, to continue to inform strategies and policies directed at mitigating the impact of future potential pandemics., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2023 Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care.)- Published
- 2022
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