RESUMO
Diabetes mellitus is a serious global health issue which significantly impacts public health and socioeconomic development. Exploring how the community perceives the causes of death and their associated risk factors is crucial for public health. This study combines verbal autopsy (VA) with the Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) register to explore community perceptions of causes of death and associated influential factors in Makkah province, Saudi Arabia. 302 VA interviews were conducted with relatives or caregivers of deceased who died between 2018 and 2021 based on T2DM medical register from Alnoor Specialist Hospital in Makkah City, Saudi Arabia. Cause-specific mortality fractions (CSMFs) obtained from the VA using the InterVA-5 model were utilized to assess community perception. We used a multivariable logistic regression model to determine factors influencing community perceptions of causes of death. Lin's CCC with 95% CI was used to analyze the concordance for the CSMFs from verbal autopsy causes of death (VACoD) as a presumed reference standard and family-reported causes of death (FRCoD). The outcomes of this study demonstrate a generally broad spectrum of community perceived mortalities, with some critical misconceptions based on the type of death and other vital events like marital status, with an overall CCC of 0.60 (95% CI: 0.20-1.00; p = 003). The study findings demonstrate that community perception is weak if the deceased was male compared to female (aOR: 0.52; 95% CI: 0.26-1.03) and if the deceased was > = 80 years compared to 34-59 years (aOR: 0.48; 95% CI: 0.16-1.38), but it significantly improves among married compared to single (aOR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.02-4.42). Exploring community perception of causes of death is crucial as it provides valuable insights into the community's understanding, beliefs, and concerns regarding mortality. Higher or lower community perception is attributed to how people may perceive risk factors associated with the causes of death, which can guide public health planning and interventional programs. The study findings further emphasize the need to employ robust and standardized VA methods within the routine medical services for a systemized assessment of families' reported causes of death.
RESUMO
Background The western region of Saudi Arabia is the most populous and diverse. This study aimed to identify the types and distribution of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) variants causing cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in this region in June 2021. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study. All genetically tested COVID-19 patients were included. We investigated the types, distribution, and magnitude of SARS-CoV-2 variants among cases of COVID-19 in June 2021. We gathered patient demographic data, clinical profiles, and epidemiology data. Results Of 115 COVID-19 confirmed patients (mean age, 40 years), 56.5% were males and 43.5% were females. Of those vaccinated, 47.1% had received a one-dose vaccination; 52.9% had received two-dose vaccinations, and 23.6% were unvaccinated. Of those vaccinated, 72.1% had received the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine, and 16.5% had received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 was prevalent in most (87.8%) patients. Among those infected, 28.8% reported contact with another COVID-19 case, and 19.8% reported a travel history. Most cases (68.6%) were moderate, 99.4% of patients recovered, and one patient died from COVID-19. Conclusion Most of the cases were primary infections, and the Delta variant was predominant and highly transmissible. Most COVID-19 patients were mild to moderately ill. A better understanding of the transmission and diagnosis of these variants will help in early detection and reduction of infection by application of the best preventive measures.