Antibiotics over-consumption is a pandemic that has a tremendous cost on the overwhelmed healthcare system. The accessibility of antibiotics coupled with the misconception of public toward those drugs both of which implicated in the use and misuse of antibiotics. The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of the community toward antibiotics, its purpose and harmfulness, in addition to the accessibility of those drugs as over the counter and without prescriptions. We also investigated the behavior toward antibiotic prescriptions when perceived unnecessary. This is a cross-sectional study in Riyadh-Saudi Arabia based upon a structured self-administered questionnaire. The study included 473 individuals with a mean age of 27 years old. Forty eight percent (n=227) of the participants obtain antibiotics without prescriptions. Ninety two percent (n=208) of those noted pharmacist counseling as their method of acquisition. Self-prescription noted in 8.4% (n=19). Viral illnesses accounted for the highest percentage for seeking antibiotics in 35.5% (n=166) more commonly among females. Thirty one point eight percent (n=149) used antibiotics for analgesia while 13.7% (n=64) believed in their prophylactic use. We also noted that the prevalence of sharing antibiotics is 19.7%. The perceived unnecessary prescriptions uncovered 122 of the participants who reported throwing the prescribed antibiotics away after acquisition. Dispensing antibiotics without prescription is an issue that mandates a political intervention and implementation of the existing laws that prohibit dispensing without proper prescription. We advocate public health measures targeting both healthcare providers and the public on the use and misuse of antibiotics.

Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) infection is associated with intensive care admissions, morbidity and mortality. Our study aimed to determine the incidence, risk factors and patient o...

Objective: To determine the prevalence and the risk factors of diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) in hospitalized adult Saudi diabetics. Methods: This is a retrospective, nested case-control study conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City (KAMC) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. All diabetic patients admitted to the hospital between the January 1, and December 31, 2018 were considered for inclusion in the study. Patients with DPN were identified and three controls per case were randomly selected from the remaining diabetic patients without peripheral neuropathy (PN). Results: A total of 2,096 adult diabetic patients were identified during the study period. Of these, 73 patients (3.5%) were confirmed to be suffering from DPN and 219 were included as controls. When comparing diabetic with the control cases, DPN cases were significantly older (p=0.002), had a significantly higher proportion of type 2 diabetes (p=0.023), chronic kidney disease (p< 0.0001), cerebral vascular stroke (p=0.027), hypertension (p=0.005), dyslipidemia (p=0.002), peripheral vascular disease (p< 0.0001), osteoarthritis (p=0.034), diabetic ketoacidosis (p=0.003), foot ulcers (p=0.006), gangrene (p=0.001), lower limb ischemia (p=0.001), increased duration with diabetic disease (p=0.031), increased BMI (p=0.003), higher serum creatinine (p< 0.001) and lower serum albumin levels (p=0.035). In the multivariate logistic regression, only older age {odds ratio (OR) 1.02, 95% CI 1.01– 1.04, p=0.031}, chronic kidney disease (OR 2.39, 95% CI 1.23– 4.64, p=0.010) and peripheral vascular disease (OR 3.14, 95% CI 1.39– 7.13, p=0.006) were independently associated with DPN. Conclusion: This study identified several risk factors that contributed to the development of DPN in Saudis. These must be considered in strategies and campaigns aimed at risk reduction of cardiovascular and chronic diseases, and consequently progression of DPN.

Background: Little is written about recurrence and mortality rates after a first episode of venous thromboembolism (VTE) among Saudi population. Aim: Determine incidence rates and assess predictors of recurrence and mortality following the first VTE event. Patients and Methods: A total of 1124 patients aged ≥ 18 years with symptomatic VTE confirmed by imaging tests were evaluated. The incidence of VTE recurrence and mortality were assessed. The association between patient characteristics, and VTE recurrence and mortality was explored by estimating the hazard ratio (HR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). The difference between cancer-related, provoked and unprovoked VTE in terms of recurrence and mortality was explored using Kaplan–Meier curves. Results: The annual incidence rate of the first VTE was 1.7 per 1000 patients. Of 1124 patients with first VTE, 214 (19%) developed recurrent VTE, and 192 (17%) died with overall incidence rates of 15.8 per 100 person-years (95% CI, 13.8– 18.0) and 10.0 per 100 person-years (95% CI, 8.7– 11.5). Intensive care unit (ICU) admission (HR, 2.15; 95% CI, 1.67– 3.10), presence of active cancer (HR, 2.97; 95% CI, 1.87– 3.95), immobilization (HR, 2.52; 95% CI, 1.79– 3.67), infection (HR, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.94– 3.45), and pulmonary embolism ± deep venous thrombosis (HR, 2.22; 95% CI, 1.56– 3.16) were found to be independent predictors of recurrent VTE. Recurrence carries a high hazard of mortality (HR, 5.21; 95% CI, 3.61– 7.51). The estimated median time to VTE recurrence was lower in cancer-related VTE (18.7 months) compared with provoked (29.0 months) and unprovoked VTE (28.4 months). The estimated survival median time was lower in cancer-related VTE (21.8 months) compared with provoked (30.5 months) and unprovoked VTE (29.8 months). Conclusion: Immobilization and presence of active cancer, infection, and PE ± DVT were significant predictors of recurrent VTE. Patients who developed recurrent VTE had a 5.2-fold higher hazard of mortality compared with patients with no VTE recurrence.