Herd immunity through vaccination is the target of public health interventions against COVID-19, but vaccine refusal or hesitancy is one of the global threats that make achievement of community immunity very difficult. The aim of this study was to determine negative attitudes and intentions and their predictors towards COVID-19 vaccines. This was cross sectional survey, that targeted 1011 Egyptians aged 18 years and above, from 24 governorates, during the period from 7 January 2021, to 30 March 2021. Using a convenient sampling technique, the data were collected through an online self-administered, structured questionnaire, which was composed of two main sections, that involved sociodemographic and health related factors, intentions, and attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines. The mean age of participants was 29.35 ± 10.78 years, (16.6 %) of them had COVID-19. (54%) of respondents, reported COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and 21% of them reported vaccine non-acceptance while (27.1%) of participants preferred receiving Pfizer vaccine. (51.8%) of the respondents expressed strong worries about unforeseen effects of the vaccine which was associated with younger age groups, married, females, absence of history of allergy to food or drugs, perceived susceptibility to COVID 19 and never having flu vaccination. Vaccine hesitancy was associated with female sex, urban residence, university/post graduate, married respondents, those never had flu vaccine, and those did not have confidence in the ability of health system to control the epidemic. Female sex, urban residence and having concerns about unforeseen effects were predictors for vaccine hesitancy and vaccine non-acceptance. The observed high level of worries about unforeseen effects of COVID-19 vaccines and widespread vaccine hesitancy amongst Egyptians and its predictors should be considered during implementation of public health intervention campaigns to change negative attitudes and improve acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines in Egypt.

We aimed to determine the prevalence of MHAs' usage and explore the context and determinants of using MHAs among inhabitants in Saudi Arabia (SA). This cross-sectional study randomly selected 679 adult inhabitants from the 20 health regions in SA through an electronic, self-administered, well-structured, and validated Arabic questionnaire. The prevalence of using MHAs was 47.9%, and it was significantly higher among younger, Saudis, highly educated, and working participants, as well as those with chronic diseases (p < 0.05). The main motives for using MHAs were to promote health status (68.6%) and to lose weight (33.2%). The most used apps were related to daily steps-counting (54.2%), and among females was tracking ovulation period apps (43.5%). The most common reported advantage of using MHAs was saving time (64%). Despite the potential benefits of MHAs, they were used by only about half of the study participants in SA. The most effective MHAs in improving health status were exercise, calorie-related, water uptake, and daily steps-counting apps. Policymakers looking to address reform aimed at improving health with mobile apps will find our study interesting.

Objectives: To evaluate the morbidity profile and explore the geriatric giants, health problems, and their risk factors among old people in the older people health clinics at primary health care centers (PHCCs) in Saudi Arabia. Methods: This is a record-based descriptive cross-sectional study. Data was collected between 2012-2020 using the health data of older people to whom comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) was carried out at 1,481 PHCCs in Saudi Arabia. Data included sociodemographic and health related characteristics, medications, results of CGA, complete clinical examination, and laboratory results. Assessment was carried out for diabetes, hypertension, obesity, underweight, vision and hearing impairments, depression, memory and cognitive impairment, risk of falls, urine incontinence, bronchial asthma, and anemia. Results: A total of 193,715 older people were screened. A high prevalence of diabetes (55.4%), hypertension (49.1%), diabetes and hypertension co-morbidity (26.8%), and obesity (22.2%) were found. The overall prevalence of anemia was 4.7% and asthma 8.9%. The prevalence of positive screening for depression was 5.9%, 2.9% for memory and cognitive impairment, 6.3% for urine incontinence, and 4.0% for risk of fall. The prevalence of vision impairment was 20.6%, hearing impairments was 12.6%, and for underweight it was 5.4%. There was high prevalence of risk factors like smoking (8.5%), and polypharmacy (25.3%). Health regions varied widely in prevalence of the studied health conditions. Conclusion: The study findings highlight the importance of CGA in early detection of geriatric giants, health problems, and associated risk factors among Saudi older people.

Introduction: Physician burnout is considered a great public health problem, and the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic made it worse. The pandemic put several physical and emotional stressors on the frontline healthcare providers leading to increased burnout. Aim of work: was to assess the prevalence of burnout and its predictors among frontline physicians in Egypt during COVID 19 pandemic and evaluating the relation between burnout, its subscales, and psychosomatic symptoms. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study assessed 503 Egyptian physicians for burnout between the 26th of March 2020 to the 1st of June 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic weeks, using the online form of Maslach Burnout Inventory [MBI]. Results: 72.8% of study subjects were classified as having a high burnout level and 26.0% as having an average level. 62.2% and 62.4% of studied physicians had high emotional exhaustion and depersonalization levels, respectively, and 43.5 % had low personal achievement levels. Dealing with critical cases, dealing with suspected cases of COVID 19, the number of shifts per month, and the presence of psychosomatic disorders were the significant positive predictors for total burnout score while dealing with critical cases, the number of shifts per month, and the presence of psychosomatic disorders were the significant positive predictors for emotional exhaustion. Significantly higher scores of psychosomatic disorders were observed among physicians with a high level of burnout, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization subscales. Conclusion: It could be concluded that dealing with critical cases, suspected and confirmed cases of COVID 19 were significant positive predictors for total burnout score. The high levels of overall burnout and its subscales indicate the need for specific intervention programs to cope with the work-related stressors.

BACKGROUND: The outbreak of coronavirus pandemic in Wuhan, China, since December 2019 has been the major public health concern. With the absence of an effective vaccine or treatment for the disease, current control measures are directed toward preventive measures to lessen disease burden and to curb the spread of the virus. AIM: The aim of the study was to assess knowledge, attitudes, perceptions, and practices (KAPP) of adult Egyptians toward COVID-19 and to study their determinants. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional survey of a random sample of 999 Egyptian residence aged 16 years and above, it was conducted between April and June 2020 using self-administrated online questionnaire. It consisted of 15, five, and eight questions pertaining to knowledge, attitude, and practices toward COVID-19, respectively, in addition to demographic data. Data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics 23.0 at a level of significant at p ≤ 0.05. RESULTS: Out of the 999 participants, 628 (62.8%) were aged (20-<40y), 666 (66.7%) were females 576 (57.6) from urban residence, 665 (66.7%) were married with university educated or higher 605 (60.5%), and only 105 (10.5%) had chronic diseases. The total knowledge score was significantly higher among highly educated, females, in rural areas, married, and governmental workers, while higher educational status, females, married, smokers, and being without chronic diseases and governmental workers were significantly associated with higher practice scores. CONCLUSIONS: Egyptian participates had good level of knowledge, positive attitude about COVID-19 infection and, poor practice; however, community educational campaigns are necessary to ensure to improve on practice campaigns.

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.