Perceptions, barriers, and attitudes toward research among in-training physicians in Saudi Arabia: A multicenter survey.

The outcomes of patient care are improved by adequate knowledge, practical skills, and positive attitude. Currently, there is a lack of data on medical research activities among resident doctors in Saudi Arabia. This study aimed to evaluate the perception, barriers, and research attitudes among various residency programs running in different cities of Saudi Arabia. A total of 434 surgical and medical residents participated in the current study. A cross-sectional study encompassing multiple training centers in the eastern province of Saudi. Convenient sampling technique was used to include all the working training residents. A self-administered questionnaire was formulated for data collection. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data. The mean age of the residents with various specialties was 27.83 ± 2.41 years. Approximately 61.7% had participated in research, while 38.3% had never participated in any research. A total of 26% of junior and 44% of senior residents have one publication only. While 11% of junior and 9% of senior residents have three publications or more. Inadequate facilities for research, lack of baseline research skills, and personal commitments were the reasons which over 60% of respondents had agreed on. Institutional reasons: lack of professional supervisor support and lack of research curriculum in the training program was reported by 308 (71%) and 305(70.3%) residents, respectively. A lack of interest for research was prevailed more in males (19%) compared to females (14%) (OR 1.43, 95% CI: 0.86-2.38, p-value 0.17). A subset of residents had one or three publications, while some had none. A lack of baseline research skills and inadequate facilities for scientific explorations, time, and funds were the main constraints among training residents. However, several residents had a positive attitude toward research but fewer publications. Thus, training in medical research methodology should be obligatory in the residency curriculum in all specialties. Further research is needed.

Seasonal influenza vaccination coverage and its association with COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia.

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is still on-going worldwide. The available information regarding the seasonal influenza vaccine (SIV) coverage during the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on SARS-CoV-2 spread are limited. Moreover, it is argued that SIV may or may not lessen the COVID-19 severity. No previous studies have been revealed SIV coverage among COVID-19 patients and its association with COVID-19 spread and severity, especially in Saudi Arabia. Hence, this study aimed to estimate the influenza vaccine uptake in confirmed COVID-19 patients and investigate its impact on COVID-19 spread and severity. Accordingly, 1734 COVID-19 confirmed patients were included from three government hospitals in Saudi Arabia (SA). The data were collected electronically through a newly formed, self-administrated questionnaire. Among those patients, 335 were covered with SIV (19.31%), and the coverage rate of females and males was 23.4% and 15.8%, respectively. Severe COVID-19 cases were less in vaccinated patients than in non-vaccinated (2.69% vs. 3.5%, respectively). Additionally, the results showed a significant decrease in getting infected by SARS-CoV-2 after receiving SIV (P = 0.022). Even with the tremendous efforts to promote SIV uptake among the general population and high-risk groups, the SIV coverage in SA is not optimal yet. Nevertheless, there is a significant decrease in the probability of getting infected with SARS-CoV-2 after receiving SIV. Such findings with the continuous progression of the COVID-19 pandemic call for a novel approach regarding vaccination policies to increase SIV and COVID-19 vaccine uptake.