Statin use and clinical outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients: A retrospective analysis in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the relationship between statin use and coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) severity. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of adult patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were hospitalized at Prince Mohammed Bin Abdulaziz Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The study was carried out from July - September 2020. Antecedent statin use was evaluated using medication information available in the electronic medical records. RESULTS: In this retrospective study, we collected data from 689 patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Among the patients, 56.2% of them were non-Saudi and 67.3% were males. The mean age of the patients was 53.7 years. The most common comorbidities among patients with COVID-19 at admission were hypertension (65.2%) and diabetes mellitus (65%). Among these patients, 155 (22.5%) patients received statins during hospitalization and 79.7% of them received corticosteroids. Receiving statins significantly increased the risk of intensive care unit's admission by 1.64 times, intubation by 1.76 times, developing complications by 2.48 times, and mortality by 3.16 times. CONCLUSION: Statins are associated with a higher risk of mortality and morbidity among patients hospitalized for COVID-19.

The Effects of Smoking on the Severity of Atopic Dermatitis in Saudi Arabia.

Background Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a well-known inflammatory skin disease that is associated with a family history of other atopic diseases. Tobacco smoking has been found to affect AD as well as several other inflammatory skin diseases. In this study, we aimed to investigate this association and to elucidate the link between dose-dependent tobacco exposure and symptom severity. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on individuals from the general population of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected using an online questionnaire. All statistical analyses were performed using RStudio, version 1.1.363 (RStudio, PBC, Boston, Massachusetts, United States). Questions about the participants' age, sex, and occupational status were included. The participants were asked to report their daily handwashing habits and history of atopic diseases. Data on the smoking duration, number of cigarettes smoked per day, and passive exposure were collected. Results A total of 510 participants (41.3 %) reported having AD. Smoking was significantly associated with an increased prevalence of AD. The odds of having AD were 1.78 and 2.27 times higher in occasional smokers (odds ratio (OR) = 1.78, p < 0.05) and daily smokers (OR = 2.27, p < 0.001) than in non-smokers. Neither smoking frequency (p = 0.19) nor duration (p = 0.73) was significantly associated with AD prevalence. Conclusion Smoking is significantly associated with an increased prevalence of AD. Adults should be discouraged from smoking in order to prevent adult-onset AD. The level of nicotine exposure should be measured objectively in future studies.

The Impact of Migraine Disease on Work Productivity and Quality of Life Among the Adults in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

BACKGROUND: Migraine is a chronic unilateral headache associated with nausea and vomiting. According to the World Health Organization, it is listed as the 19th disabling disease. Multiple studies found an inverse relationship between the frequency of the attacks and the low quality of life score. Roughly, one-third of migraine attacks occur during workdays, with a higher incidence of reduced productivity and missed days among chronic patients (>15 headache days per month). OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article was to determine the migraine impact on work productivity and quality of life in Riyadh's general population in Saudi Arabia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among participants suspected or diagnosed with migraine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The survey measured the quality of life with the effect of migraine headaches by the Migraine Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire (MSQ). Patients suspected of migraines were asked to complete the ID Migraine™ three-item screening test. RESULTS: In this study, we were able to collect data from 223 patients diagnosed with migraine. Among the participants, 99.1% of them were Saudi Arabian, and 93.7% were females. Moreover, 33.6% of the participants were included in the study upon their self-report and 66.4% according to the ID migraine assessment. The mean scores of limitations of the patients' performance, interrupting normal activities, and emotions were 51.83, 57.11, and 59.94, respectively. CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed the results reported in previous studies that migraine has a negative impact on the quality of life of the patients and their ability to work. An awareness program should be conducted to increase the awareness of the importance of the early diagnosis of migraine.

Occupational and environmental exposures, the association with chronic sinusitis.

OBJECTIVES: To find the association between environmental and occupational exposures and chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) development. METHODS: The Preferred Reporting Items Of Systematic Reviews Guidelines were used when a systematic literature review was conducted to find all published cases of CRS by searching PubMed database and Google Scholar. Published articles between 1989 and 2021 that reported chronic and occupational rhinosinusitis were included. However, articles that reported allergic rhinitis or upper airway diseases and non-English articles were excluded from this study. RESULTS: A total of 97 articles were extracted initially, and 15 articles were reviewed after excluding 82 articles that did not match our inclusion criteria. Most studies linked CRS development to smoke exposure (n=9734), followed by living in rural areas as farms (n=5504). Exposure to pesticides (n=4248) contributed to a higher prevalence of CRS. Blue-collar occupations, such as fire fighters, farmers, and fishermen were significantly related to CRS development in a total of 5260 patients. Chronic rhinosinusitis mainly affected more men (n=8912) than women (n=8076). CONCLUSION: We found that smoking was the most aggravating environmental factor. Chronic rhinosinusitis symptoms' severity increased with direct contact with allergens. Thus, the greatest proportion of patients with CRS was those with blue-collar occupations, such as firefighters, farmers, and fishermen.