Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease that affects the respiratory system. In addition to the severe effects of the disease on health, the pandemic caused a negative impact on basic needs and services, employment, education, and economy worldwide. In Jordan, the whole country locked down, and quarantine was enforced by the military forces, which successfully controlled the spread of the disease. This research aims to study the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated quarantine on university students' beliefs about online learning practice in Jordan. An online descriptive survey involved questions that covered students' demographic information, student's basic and advanced knowledge about COVID-19, students' online learning experience during the quarantine, and finally students' views on the enforced quarantine practice in Jordan. Results showed that students have a good knowledge (>50%) about the COVID-19 basic information and a moderate knowledge (90%) supported the military-enforced quarantine implemented in the country despite the hard time the students had during the quarantine. We conclude that university students were able to protect themselves from COVID-19 through their good knowledge about the infectious disease and their commitment to follow the rules imposed by the Government of Jordan. Nevertheless, the challenges caused by the pandemic and its associated quarantine, combined with the sudden unprecedented online experience, negatively impacted students' thoughts and beliefs about the online learning experience during the quarantine. Further studies need to be performed in this context. We hope our results will help decision-makers better understand the students' attitudes and motivation toward online learning and how this will affect their future plans and decisions.

Background: The recurring nature of kidney stones (KS) makes it difficult to control and treat. Patients’ education plays a part in reducing disease recurrence. Pharmacists participate in the healthcare services through educating patients with kidney stones about KS preventive measures and medications that greatly reduce the disease frequency and the treatment cost. Insufficient pharmacists’ knowledge may affect the services’ quality and result in misuse of KS medications. Objectives: To evaluate the pharmacists’ level of knowledge to provide adequate information about KS preventive measures, medications, and treatments for patients with kidney stones in Jordan. Methods: An online descriptive survey was distributed to pharmacists to assess their knowledge about KS causes, prevention, and treatment. The results were analyzed using the SPSS software. Results: There were 393 pharmacists participated in this study. Pharmacists demonstrated an overall intermediate level of knowledge about KS. They showed an excellent level of knowledge regarding KS types and etiology, an intermediate level of knowledge about KS preventive measures and treatment, and poor knowledge about home remedies and drugs that promote KS formation. Conclusion: Pharmacists knowledge about KS management through diet and medications need to be improved. This could be through focusing on pharmacists’ training for the effective implementation of knowledge in the clinical practice. Adopting guidelines by pharmacists may reduce the risk of KS recurrence and provide pharmacist-led patient education about KS management in hospitals and community pharmacies.

Background Organ donation entails saving or transforming lives through the provision of organs, either from living donors or deceased individuals. In Jordan, low donation rates are attributed to religious misconceptions, limited education and insufficient awareness of the burden on patients with organ failure. Objectives To investigate the attitudes of the Jordanian population towards the practicality and effectiveness of introducing an opt-out organ donation system through legislative measures, with the aim of increasing donation rates. Design This cross-sectional study used a designed self-administered questionnaire. Data were subsequently analysed using IBM SPSS software. Setting The study encompassed all 12 cities located in Jordan. Participants Data were collected from 1146 Jordanian participants, excluding individuals under the age of 18. Results Approximately 36.6% reported organ or blood donation while 18.9% participated in awareness campaigns. Many (75.7%) perceived insufficient awareness about the importance of organ donation, and 67.1% noted a scarcity of online donor registration platforms. Only 12.0% of participants discussed organ donation with healthcare providers. As anticipated, only 9.0% were registered donors while 67.7% expressed acceptance of organ donation, with 55.3% willing to enrol in donor programmes. Religion influenced 54.2% of organ donation decisions. There are associations between agreement for a new enactment and prior organ or blood donation or discussions with healthcare providers. However, religion affected willingness to donate organs. Most importantly, refusal to be a donor after death was associated with religion, occupation and awareness levels. Conclusion Despite the population’s understanding and support for the concept of organ donation, the willingness towards donating their own organs is limited. To boost organ donation rates and acceptance of the new enactment, we recommend conducting educational campaigns, improving online registration platforms, enhancing healthcare provider engagement, collaborating with religious communities and advocating for supportive policies.

Background: The prevalence of chronic kidney diseases (CKD) is higher in patients with diabetes. The American diabetes association (ADA) provides components of diabetes care, treatments, and guidelines to diagnose diabetic patients at risk of CKD. Herein we followed the ADA diagnosis guidelines to identify the Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients at risk of CKD which is underestimated in the region. The study main objectives are to investigate the CKD prevalence and association with risk factors according to the ADA classification, and also to identify the T2DM patients at risk of renal diseases. A descriptive retrospective study was conducted. The data were collected using face-to-face interviews and through accessing patients’ medical records from Endocrinology and Cardiology clinics in an academic tertiary care hospital. Results: About 40% of the 331 T2DM outpatients were at risk of developing CKD. The majority were in CKD Stage 3, then Stage 2. The estimated GFR (eGFR) values were significantly reduced in the T2DM patients who are; older than 50 years; have diabetes for more than 10 years; and have abnormally high serum and urine creatinine, proteinuria, and albumin to creatinine ratio. Further, the eGFR values were negatively associated with; the duration of T2DM; serum creatinine, proteinuria; and albumin to creatinine ratio. Conclusions: This study provides evidence of the increasing risk of CKD among T2DM patients in the region. Hence, T2DM patients especially elders and those with the long onset of diabetes need to go under regular checks on their clinical parameters to prevent CKD progression.

Background: COVID-19 vaccines continue to save people’s lives around the world; however, some vaccine adverse events have been a major concern which slowed down vaccination campaigns. Anecdotal evidence pointed to the vaccine effect on menstruation but evidence from the adverse event reporting systems and the biomedical literature was lacking. This study aimed to investigate the physiological changes in women during menstruation amid the COVID-19 vaccination.Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was distributed to COVID-19 vaccinated women from Nov 2021 to Jan 2022. The results were analyzed using the SPSS software.Results: Among the 564 vaccinated women, 52% experienced significant menstrual irregularities post-vaccination compared to before regardless of the vaccine type. The kind of menstrual irregularity varied among the vaccinated women, for example, 33% had earlier menstruation, while 35% reported delayed menstruation. About 31% experienced heavier menstruation, whereas 24% had lighter menstrual flow. About 29% had menstruation last longer, but 13% had it shorter than usual. Noteworthy, the menstrual irregularities were more frequent after the second vaccine shot, and they disappeared within 3 months on average. Interestingly, 24% of the vaccinated women reported these irregularities to their gynecologist.Conclusion: The COVID-19 vaccine may cause physiological disturbances during menstruation. Luckily, these irregularities were short-termed and should not be a reason for vaccine hesitancy in women. Further studies are encouraged to unravel the COVID-19 vaccine adverse effect on women’s health.