Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder in Primary Care: Overview on Diagnosis and Management

Background: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a debilitating condition marked by the presence of intrusive obsessions and repetitive compulsions. The primary care setting often serves as the first line of contact for individuals grappling with mental health issues, making it a crucial frontier in the early detection and management of OCD. Therefore, the accurate diagnosis of OCD in such settings is essential for effective management. Objective: This review article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the diagnostic process for OCD, emphasizing the clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, and various diagnostic tools available. Additionally, it explores current strategies for managing OCD, including pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions. Methodology: For this review, a comprehensive literature search was conducted using Google Scholar and PubMed databases. Keywords such as "Diagnosis," "obsessive compulsive disorder," and "management" were employed to narrow down relevant studies. Both qualitative and quantitative research papers were included, while non-English publications and those lacking peer-review were excluded. Results: Core symptoms of OCD include obsessions and compulsions, with the Y-BOCS being a standard measure for diagnosis. Differential diagnosis is essential to distinguish OCD from other conditions. SSRIs have been recognized as first-line pharmacological treatments. CBT, particularly Exposure and Response Prevention, remains a potent psychotherapeutic intervention. Emerging treatments like DBS and TMS offer hope for those unresponsive to conventional treatments. Combination therapies have shown enhanced efficacy in certain cases. Conclusion: The meticulous diagnosis of OCD requires recognizing its core symptoms, ruling out other conditions, and leveraging validated clinical tools. A multi-faceted management approach combining pharmacological and psychological treatments ensures optimal patient outcomes, with ongoing research introducing promising new interventions

Early determinants of mortality in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia

Purpose: This study investigated the clinical determinants of mortality in hospitalized patients infected with COVID-19. Patients and Methods: A retrospective multicenter large cohort of COVID-19 patients hospitalized between March 2020 and February 2021. We included patients admitted with a confirmed COVID-19 infection with positive COVID-19 through real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). SPSS version 25.0 (Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.) was used to analyze the data. Results: Among the study participants (n = 1444), the mean age of the population was 49.22±17.69 years, of which 63.9% were males (n = 924). Overall, the mean age for non-survivors was 55.65 ±16.41 years and the length of ICU stay was 13.95 ±12.4 years. The most common comorbidity among the study subjects was hypertension (HTN) (32.7%), followed by cardiovascular disease (CVD) (10.7%). Patients who were mechanically ventilated (MV) had higher mortality than those who did not require MV (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Our study concluded that old age, the presence of underlying cardiovascular conditions, an abnormal WBC count (leukopenia or leukocytosis), and abnormal blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels are among the independent predictors of mortality in the Saudi population. These findings may guide health care providers to manage COVID-19 patients more effectively with better outcomes

Role of CT Scan in Diagnosis of COVID-19 Infection-A Review

Since it was declared a worldwide pandemic, COVID-19 has ravaged almost all over the world and has overloaded several health-care systems. The pandemic also resulted in job losses as a result of lengthy shutdowns, which burdened the global economy. Even though significant clinical research progress has led to a better perceiving of the virus ( SARS-CoV-2) nature and the disease (COVID-19) management, preventing the virus's spread has become a major concern as SARSCoV-2 continues to wreak havoc around the world. Several countries suffered from the second or third wave of viral disease outbreaks, primarily caused by the mutation of SARS-CoV-2. Imaging is critical in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with new coronavirus-infected pneumonia (NCIP). The primary imaging modality in clinically suspected cases is CT scan and it is useful for monitoring imaging changes following therapy. Therefore, CT is regarded as a useful diagnostic technique for clinically suspected cases of COVID-19. CT has the ability to detect patients who have a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) but are highly suspicious of NCIP in terms of clinical problems. In addition, the results of a CT scan may also reveal information concerning the severity of the condition. In this review article, the diagnosis of COVID-19 is discussed and CT characteristics are defined based on the newest research for the diagnosis and management of COVID-19