Prevalence of emergency cases among pilgrims presenting at King Abdulaziz International Airport Health Care Center at Hajj Terminal, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during Hajj Season, 1440 H - 2019

Khaled Masoud Alrufaidi; Randa Mohammed Nouh; Atheer Abdulaziz Alkhalaf; Nawaf Mufarreh AlGhamdi; Haitham Z Alshehri; Ahmad Mohammad Alotaibi; Ahmed Obaid Almashaykhi; Osama Mohammed AlGhamdi; Hashim Mohammed Makhrashi; Saeed Abdulaziz AlGhamdi; Ahmed Ghormallah AlZahrani; Sahibzada Azhar Mujib; Eman Elsayed Abd-Ellatif

doi:10.1016/j.dialog.2023.100099

Prevalence of emergency cases among pilgrims presenting at King Abdulaziz International Airport Health Care Center at Hajj Terminal, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia during Hajj Season, 1440 H - 2019

Dialogues Health. 2023 Jan 9:2:100099. doi: 10.1016/j.dialog.2023.100099. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
² Consultant of Public Health, Field Epidemiology Training Program, MOH, Saudi Arabia.
³ Oral and Dental Medicine and Surgery, Riyadh Elm University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ MD,MBA, MOH,Public Health, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Consultant Family Medicine, East Jeddah Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Department of Dermatology, Prince Mutaib bin Abdulaziz Hospital, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia.
⁷ Epidemiologist, Ministry of health, Oman.
⁸ Senior registrar in family medicine, Prince Mansour Hospital, Altaif, Saudi Arabia.
⁹ General Physician, Emergency Clinic at King Abdulaziz Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
¹⁰ Department of Nursing, Health Control Center at King Abdulaziz International Airport, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
¹¹ Department of Infection Control, King Abdullah Medical Complex Hospital, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
¹² Field Epidemiology Training Program, MOH, Saudi Arabia.
¹³ Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Mansoura University, 35511, Egypt.

Abstract

Introduction: About 2-3 million pilgrims come to Makkah, Saudi Arabia from all countries to perform Hajj. During the Hajj season of 2019 (1440 H), the total number of pilgrims was 2,489,406, of whom 1,855,027 came from foreign countries. This study aims to investigate the prevalence, pattern, and findings of emergency health problems among pilgrims travelling through King Abdul Aziz International Airport Health Care Center (KAIA-HC) at Hajj Terminal in Jeddah during hajj season of 1440-H.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted by reviewing the medical records of pilgrims coming for treatment at KAIA-HC, before and after Hajj between 1 Dhul Qi'dah to 29 Dhul Hijjah 1440 AH (Corresponding to 4 July to 31 August 2019 AD). The collected data included demographics, medical history, diagnoses of the emergency health problems, infections, and their findings. Data were analyzed using Epi Info 7 and SPSS 25.

Results: About 296 (3.87%) of 7,643 pilgrims treated at KAIA-HC were emergency cases. Their average age was 43 years (Standard Deviation (SD) ±7.5); 51.3% were females; the highest (45.3%) was between 30 - 59 years age group, both males and females; the highest two nationalities were Indonesian (14.2%) and Egyptian (12.5%). Diagnoses included hypertension 59(19.9%), bronchial asthma 53 (17.9%), and 23 cases (10.5%) were suffering from hypotension. 16 (5.4%) of patients had a myocardial infarction and 10 (3.4%) had cerebrovascular accidents. In 13 cases (4.4%), a chest infection was reported. Diabetes complications (hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and diabetic ketoacidosis) were reported in 28 (9.4%) of the cases. There were 28 (9.5%) surgical diagnoses, 13 (4.4%) were cut wounds, 11 (3.7%) were bone fracture and dislocation, and 4 (1.4%) were head trauma. With regard to the findings, 82 (27.7%) were referred to hospitals; 10 (3.3%) cases required Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation, seven of whom survived. The most common referral causes were myocardial Infarction amounting 12(4.05%), followed by cerebrovascular accident 10(3.3%) and chest infection in 8 (2.7%). 13 (4.4%) of the total cases died. The most common causes of death were myocardial infarction, asthma, hypertension and hyperglycemia.

Conclusion: Our study emphasizes that emergency cases presented at KAIA-HC were few. Cardiovascular diseases represented the main reason for emergency cases, followed by respiratory diseases. 51% of patients were discharged without the need for a higher level of medical care.

Keywords: Emergency Department; Hajj; Healthcare Center; Patients; Pilgrims; Saudi Arabia.