Next generation support and stronger institutions for evidence-informed policy-making.

Evidence-informed policy-making benefitted from much-needed attention and resources during the COVID-19 pandemic (1). As a result, 3 key movements and innovations are now making it possible to provide better evidence support (higher quality and more aligned to the speed of advisory and decision-making) for policy-making than ever.

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Background: Viral epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) pose a global threat. Examples are influenza (H1N1) caused by the H1N1pdm09 virus in 2009, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Antiviral drugs and vaccines may be insufficient to prevent their spread.

PCSK9 inhibitors and ezetimibe for the reduction of cardiovascular events: a clinical practice guideline with risk-stratified recommendations.

Clinical Question: In adults with low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels >1.8 mmol/L (>70 mg/dL) who are already taking the maximum dose of statins or are intolerant to statins, should another lipid-lowering drug be added, either a proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin 9 (PCSK9) inhibitor or ezetimibe, to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events? If so, which drug is preferred? Having decided to use one, should we add the other lipid-lowering drug?

Current Practice: Most guidelines emphasise LDL cholesterol targets in their recommendations for prescribing PCSK9 inhibitors and/or ezetimibe in adults at high risk of experiencing a major adverse cardiovascular event. However, to achieve these goals in very high risk patients with statins alone is almost impossible, so physicians are increasingly considering other lipid-lowering drugs solely for achieving LDL cholesterol treatment goals rather than for achieving important absolute cardiovascular risk reduction.

Interrupted versus uninterrupted anticoagulation therapy for catheter ablation in adults with arrhythmias.

Background: The management of anticoagulation therapy around the time of catheter ablation (CA) procedure for adults with arrhythmia is critical and yet is variable in clinical practice. The ideal approach for safe and effective perioperative management should balance the risk of bleeding during uninterrupted anticoagulation while minimising the risk of thromboembolic events with interrupted therapy.

Objectives: To compare the efficacy and harms of interrupted versus uninterrupted anticoagulation therapy for catheter ablation (CA) in adults with arrhythmias.

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Background: Viral epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory infections (ARIs) pose a global threat. Examples are influenza (H1N1) caused by the H1N1pdm09 virus in 2009, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in 2003, and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 in 2019. Antiviral drugs and vaccines may be insufficient to prevent their spread.

Adapting evidence-based clinical practice guidelines at university teaching hospitals: A model for the Eastern Mediterranean Region.

Rationale, Aims, And Objectives: Clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) are significant tools for evidence-based health care quality improvement. The CPG program at King Saud University was launched as a quality improvement program to fulfil the international accreditation standards. This program was a collaboration between the Research Chair for Evidence-Based Healthcare and Knowledge Translation and the Quality Management Department.

Failure Mode and Effect Analysis (FMEA) may enhance implementation of clinical practice guidelines: An experience from the Middle East.

Rationale, Aims, And Objectives: Implementation of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) has been shown to reduce variation in practice and improve health care quality and patients' safety. There is a limited experience of CPG implementation (CPGI) in the Middle East. The CPG program in our institution was launched in 2009.

Guidance for Modifying the Definition of Diseases: A Checklist.

Importance: No guidelines exist currently for guideline panels and others considering changes to disease definitions. Panels frequently widen disease definitions, increasing the proportion of the population labeled as unwell and potentially causing harm to patients. We set out to develop a checklist of issues, with guidance, for panels to consider prior to modifying a disease definition.

Management of convulsive status epilepticus in children: an adapted clinical practice guideline for pediatricians in Saudi Arabia.

Objective:: To increase the use of evidence-based approaches in the diagnosis, investigations and treatment of Convulsive Status Epilepticus (CSE) in children in relevant care settings.

Method:: A Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) adaptation group was formulated at a university hospital in Riyadh. The group utilized 2 CPG validated tools including the ADAPTE method and the AGREE II instrument.

Evidence-Based Decision Making in Public Health: Capacity Building for Public Health Students at King Saud University in Riyadh.

Translation of research evidence into public health programs is lagging in Eastern Mediterranean Region. Graduate level public health curriculum at King Saud University (KSU), College of Medicine, Riyadh, is designed to equip students to integrate best available evidence in public health decision making. The objectives of study were to explore students' opinion about the evidence based public health (EBPH) courses and to survey the knowledge, opinion, and attitude of the students towards EBPH and perceived barriers for implementation of EBPH in decision making in public health.

Guidelines International Network: Principles for Disclosure of Interests and Management of Conflicts in Guidelines.

Conflicts of interest (COIs) have been defined by the American Thoracic Society as "a divergence between an individual's private interests and his or her professional obligations such that an independent observer might reasonably question whether the individual's professional actions or decisions are motivated by personal gain, such as direct financial, academic advancement, clinical revenue streams, or community standing." In the context of guideline development, the concerns are not simply about identifying and disclosing direct financial or indirect COIs. Despite this recognition, the management of COIs in guidelines is often unsatisfactory.

Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults.

Background: Different types of influenza vaccines are currently produced worldwide. Vaccination of pregnant women is recommended internationally, while healthy adults are targeted in North America.

Objectives: To identify, retrieve and assess all studies evaluating the effects (efficacy, effectiveness and harm) of vaccines against influenza in healthy adults, including pregnant women.

A systematic review of recent clinical practice guidelines on the diagnosis, assessment and management of hypertension.

Background: Despite the availability of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs), optimal hypertension control is not achieved in many parts of the world; one of the challenges is the volume of guidelines on this topic and their variable quality. To systematically review the quality, methodology, and consistency of recommendations of recently-developed national CPGs on the diagnosis, assessment and the management of hypertension.

Methodology/principal Findings: MEDLINE, EMBASE, guidelines' websites and Google were searched for CPGs written in English on the general management of hypertension in any clinical setting published between January 2006 and September 2011.

Innovative teaching methods for capacity building in knowledge translation.

Background: In some current healthcare settings, there is a noticeable absence of national institutions committed to the synthesis and use of evidence in healthcare decision- and policy-making. This absence creates a need to broaden the responsibilities of healthcare providers to include knowledge brokering and advocacy in order to optimize knowledge translation to other stakeholders, especially policy-makers. However, this process requires practitioners and researchers to acquire certain types of knowledge and skills.

A validation study comparing the sensitivity and specificity of the new Dr. KSU H1N1 RT-PCR kit with real-time RT-PCR for diagnosing influenza A (H1N1).

Background And Objectives: A new test (Dr. KSU H1N1 RT-PCR kit) was recently developed to provide a less expensive alternative to real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). We report the findings of a validation study designed to assess the diagnostic accuracy, including sensitivity and specificity, of the new kit, as compared to real-time RT-PCR.

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Background: Viral epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory infections like influenza or severe acute respiratory syndrome pose a global threat. Antiviral drugs and vaccinations may be insufficient to prevent their spread.

Objectives: To review the effectiveness of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Point-of-care testing for Hb A1c in the management of diabetes: a systematic review and metaanalysis.

Background: The measurement of hemoglobin A(1c) (Hb A(1c)) is employed in monitoring of patients with diabetes. Use of point-of-care testing (POCT) for Hb A(1c) results at the time of the patient consultation potentially provides an opportunity for greater interaction between patient and caregiver, and more effective care.

Objective: To perform a systematic review of current trials to determine whether POCT for Hb A(1c), compared with conventional laboratory testing, improves outcomes for patients with diabetes.

Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults.

Background: Different types of influenza vaccines are currently produced worldwide. Healthy adults are presently targeted mainly in North America.

Objectives: Identify, retrieve and assess all studies evaluating the effects of vaccines against influenza in healthy adults.

Vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly.

Background: Vaccines have been the main global weapon to minimise the impact of influenza in the elderly for the last four decades and are recommended worldwide for individuals aged 65 years or older. The primary goal of influenza vaccination in the elderly is to reduce the risk of complications among persons who are most vulnerable.

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of vaccines in preventing influenza, influenza-like illness (ILI), hospital admissions, complications and mortality in the elderly.

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Background: Viral epidemics or pandemics of acute respiratory infections like influenza or severe acute respiratory syndrome pose a world-wide threat. Antiviral drugs and vaccinations may be insufficient to prevent catastrophe.

Objectives: To systematically review the effectiveness of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Enteral versus parenteral nutrition for acute pancreatitis.

Background: Acute pancreatitis creates a catabolic stress state promoting a systemic inflammatory response and nutritional deterioration. Adequate supply of nutrients plays an important role in recovery. Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) has been standard practice for providing exogenous nutrients to patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

Physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses: systematic review.

Objective: To review systematically the evidence of effectiveness of physical interventions to interrupt or reduce the spread of respiratory viruses.

Data Sources: Cochrane Library, Medline, OldMedline, Embase, and CINAHL, without restrictions on language or publication. Data selection Studies of any intervention to prevent the transmission of respiratory viruses (isolation, quarantine, social distancing, barriers, personal protection, and hygiene).

Prevalence of and risk factors for peripheral arterial disease in Saudi Arabia. A pilot cross-sectional study.

Objective: To determine the prevalence of and the risk factors for Peripheral arterial disease (PAD) in a primary health care setting in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cross-sectional study of Saudi patients aged >or= 45 years, who attended the primary health care center at King Khalid University Hospital between February 2006 and March 2006. A pre-designed questionnaire was used for each patient.