The disease outcome had been shown to improve with improving patient knowledge. The study had two objectives, firstly to assess the level of knowledge about cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in the general population, and secondly, to provide written educational material regarding the risk factors, major symptoms, and the prevention of CVDs. MethodThe target population was the residents living in the Western region of Saudi Arabia, aged 18 years and above. All were invited to participate voluntarily. A pre-structured questionnaire was designed to collect data related to age, gender, marital status, education level, occupation, lifestyle habits, and a history of heart diseases, as well as cardiac symptoms, and risk factors. The educational material was provided after the questionnaire. ResultsThe majority of the participants were female (74.8%). The risk factors most frequently identified were lack of exercise, stress, and obesity. Chest pain was recognized as a major symptom (87.6%). Other symptoms included dyspnea, syncope, and excessive sweating. The level of knowledge regarding the risk factors for cardiovascular disease was poor. Only 18.5% were knowledgeable about the risk factors. The majority (60%) could identify the preventable factors, including smoking cessation (92.2%), a high level of cholesterol (88.6%), and hypertension (78.7%). The majority (83.7%) read the educational material and 99% reported that the lecture increased their knowledge about cardiovascular disease. ConclusionAlthough cardiovascular risk factors are common, there is a big gap in the knowledge in our population. Further, alarming symptoms that bring the patients to medical care are also deficient. A call for action at different levels is urgent. Simple educational material in a basic language and virtual education are useful and cheap tools that must be practiced wherever possible. Education is welcomed by the participants.

Despite the general view that patients with sickle-cell disease (SCD) have iron overload, there are reports of iron deficiency in a proportion of these patients. We studied Yemeni patients aged 1-30 years with homozygous SCD to determine their iron status using a set of 4 criteria (low serum iron, low transferrin saturation, high total iron binding capacity and low mean corpuscular volume for age). Of the 75 patients, 44 had never been transfused while 31 patients had received blood transfusions but not during the 3-month period prior to the study. Of the patients, 10 (13.3%) met the criteria for iron deficiency, 9 of whom were from the non-transfused patients (20.5%). The sensitivity and specificity were 40% and 98% respectively for reticulocyte count and 80% and 90% respectively for reticulocyte index. We recommend screening non-transfused SCD patients for iron deficiency. Anémie ferriprive chez des patients yéménites atteints de drépanocytose RÉSUMÉ En dépit de l'idée communément admise selon laquelle les patients atteints de drépanocytose souffrent d'une surcharge en fer, certains d'entre eux sont atteints d'une anémie ferriprive. Nous avons examiné des patients yéménites âgés de 12 mois à 30 ans atteints de drépanocytose homozygote afin d'établir leur bilan en fer à l'aide de quatre critères (taux de fer sérique faible, taux de saturation de la transferrine faible, capacité totale de fixation du fer élevée et volume globulaire moyen faible par rapport à l'âge). Sur 75 patients, 44 n'avaient jamais été transfusés, 31 avaient reçu des transfusions sanguines mais pas dans les trois mois précédents l'étude. Parmi les patients, 10 (13,3 %) ont reçu le diagnostic d'anémie ferriprive, dont 9 appartenaient au groupe de patients n'ayant jamais été transfusés (20,5 %). La sensibilité et la spécificité étaient de 40 % et 98 % respectivement pour la numération des réticulocytes et de 80 % et 90 % respectivement pour l'indice de production des réticulocytes. Nous recommandons le dépistage de l'anémie ferriprive chez les patients drépanocytaires n'ayant jamais été transfusés.

There has been an increasing demand for psychiatric care in recent decades, and “telepsychiatry” was developed to meet these demands. It is a type of telemedicine in which they provide many medical services virtually, such as therapy, counseling, and medication management. Telepsychiatry has numerous advantages, including lower costs, reduced stigma, and improved continuity of care. To the best of our knowledge, no previous studies in the western region of Saudi Arabia addressed patients satisfaction with telepsychiatry. This cross-sectional study aims to assess patient satisfaction in telepsychiatry in terms of accessibility and timeliness, appropriateness, effectiveness, and safety, and to see whether patient satisfaction affects their decision to use the service again in the future. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a prestructured survey on the basis of the Client Satisfaction Questionnaire-18, which is a validated questionnaire used to assess patients’ satisfaction with the services provided to them. From January 2021 to July 2021, all male and female psychiatric patients over the age of 18 years who had psychiatric virtual appointments were included in this study. This study included 182 patients, of whom 106 were female. Patients were generally satisfied with the telepsychiatry services; 56.6%, 81.9%, 86.8%, and 91.2% of the participants were satisfied with the access and timeliness, appropriateness, effectiveness, and safety, respectively, and a total of 58.3% either strongly agree or agree of the overall satisfaction level. Depression and anxiety disorders were the most common psychiatric diseases. The statistical analysis revealed no significant relationships between patients’ satisfaction and demographic characteristics. Telepsychiatry has been evaluated to meet the growing demand for psychiatric care; it also has significant advantages. Patients had an overall positive satisfaction level toward telepsychiatry service, and so the results of this study support the continuity of using telepsychiatry in the future. Further research area could include a comparison between patients’ and providers’ satisfaction levels with telepsychiatry.

Infections are common triggers for Asthma exacerbation, patients with primary immunodeficiency (PID) are at higher risk of infections including pulmonary infections, and hence they are at higher risk of Asthma exacerbations. Little is known about the prevalence of PID among patients with Asthma in the US. We sought to evaluate the prevalence of PID among patients with Asthma. Methods: Using a commercial database (Explorys Inc, Cleveland, Ohio), which includes electronic health record data from 26 major integrated US health care systems, all patients diagnosed with Asthma for 5 years were identified based on Systematized Nomenclature Of Medicine-Clinical Terms. We determined the prevalence of primary immunodeficiency and the potential associated factors and impact on Asthma using univariate analysis. Results: Out of 37,648,170 patients in the database, 3,752,980 patients were found to have Asthma in the period between 2015 and 2020, among those; 27550 patients received a diagnosis of PID (0.73%), which is significantly higher than the prevalence of PID in those without Asthma ( 0.29%) [0.44% difference, 95% CI (0.43%-0.44%), P < 0.

Since glucocorticoids (GCs) were introduced for the treatment of various diseases, they have been linked with the development of psychiatric adverse effects such as mania, depression, and psychosis. These behavioral or psychiatric adverse events usually appear within a few days after commencing GCs and are possibly to reverse with drug withdrawal. We present a rare case of a 75-year-old woman who developed mania during treatment with GC eye drops following cataract surgery. Management consisted of discontinuing prednisolone and administering olanzapine, which resulted in full recovery in a week. Olanzapine was then discontinued, and a diagnosis of steroid-induced mania was concluded for this case.