Today, every continent in the world is affected by the novel coronavirus2019 (COVID-19). Saudi Arabia has also suffered from this highly contagious, socially disruptive, infectious disease. Our aim was to assess the anxiety and depression prevalence and identify the associated risk factors among the general population of Riyadh city, Saudi Arabia, during COVID-19 outbreak. This cross-sectional study was conducted using a web-based survey. A total of 651 participants were recruited who were ≥18 years old and lived in Riyadh city during the COVID-19 pandemic. We collected sociodemographic information of the participants and assessed their COVID-19-related knowledge assessment. We used the Arabic versions of the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire and the Patient Health Questionnaire to assess the status of an individual’s anxiety and depression, respectively. We observed 28.7% and 25.5% prevalence of depression and anxiety among the general population, respectively. Females, younger people (age < 35 years), and unmarried persons showed a significantly higher prevalence of anxiety and depression. Binary logistic regression analysis also revealed that female gender, age younger than 35 years, having history of psychiatric diseases, and spending more than one hour per day on following COVID-19 news were associated with anxiety and depression. Retired participants were less likely to suffer from anxiety or depression during the pandemic. In this study, females, younger people (age < 35 years), and individuals with history of psychiatric patients were identified as vulnerable groups who need support during this crisis. We also recommend that the general public must limit their time of watching and following COVID-19-related news.

BACKGROUND: The burden of disability among the older population is increasing as older people grow with significant social and economic negative impacts. AIM: This study examines functional disability and its associated risk factors among older Saudi citizens attending primary health-care centers (PHCCs) in Riyadh city. METHODS: This descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out on 504 older Saudi citizens aged ≥60 years who attended a PHCC in Riyadh city between December 2019 and May 2020. Interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to assessing the disability in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) using the Katz Index and Lawton scale. RESULTS: The prevalence of ADL and IADL disability among participants was 24.6% and 58.5%, respectively. Smoking (p = 0.019), dyslipidemia (p = 0.018), rheumatoid arthritis (p = 0.028), history of falls (p = 0.014), and an emergency visit (p = 0.049) were risk factors associated with ADL disability. Predictors of IADL disability were advanced age (p = 0.004), being female (p = 0.029), and the need for a caregiver (p = 0.000). The need for homecare was positively associated with ADL dependency (p = 0.008) and IADL dependency (p = 0.003). Furthermore, regular physical activity was a protective factor against ADL functional disabilities (p = 0.002) and IADL functional disabilities (p = 0.000). CONCLUSION: This study found a high prevalence of ADL and IADL disability among elderly Saudis. Disability was associated with several sociodemographic and health status factors. The findings of this study highlight the priority of effective and targeted preventive interventions for disability.

Background: Marked dysfunctional psychological consequences of COVID-19 necessitate an invention of new tailored scales that can assess and monitor these manifestations. Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) is new reliable and validated scale constructed to measure COVID-19-related anxiety. Objectives were to make a well-structured CAS Arabic version and to assess its validity. Methods: Sousa and Rojjanasriratw scale adaptation guidelines were followed for CAS translation to Arabic language and a survey of sociodemographic data, CAS and validated COVID-19 fear scale Arabic-version distributed to cross-sectional university students’ sample. Internal consistency, factor analysis, average variable extracted composite reliability, Pearson correlation, and mean differences were calculated. Results: 233 students responded to the survey, and 44.6% were female. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.94, item-total correlations 0.891-0.905 and inter-item correlations 0.722-0.805. The factor analysis test showed one factor that explains 80.76% of the cumulative variances, average variance extracted 0.80 and composite reliability 0.95, and the two scales’ correlation r-value was 0.472. No significant difference between the scales regarding the score means when compared. The independent t-test showed no differences in means within each identified sociodemographic group. Conclusions: The translated Arabic version of CAS has high internal consistency reliability and convergent validity values, and factor analysis addressed unidimensional measures. So, the Arabic CAS version is a reliable and valid version that maintains the original English scale reliability and validity properties.