The dermatological presentation of COVID-19 among GCC population: a perception study

Background: Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) is an RNA SARS virus that has become an emerging global threat. Since its initial appearance within December 2019, many issues related to the topic have been investigated. It proved to affect many-body systems. However, dermatological complication still pauses an enigma as a clinical presentation for this disease. COVID-19 dermatological manifestations could be helpful to early indicators of detecting the disease. The present study was aimed at assessing the dermatological presentation of COVID-19 among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) population Methods: An anonymous questionnaire-based study was performed; the questionnaire was distributed through an online google sheet and was carried out in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, and Qatar (GCC countries). Results: One thousand and eight hundred forty-eight participants responded to the study. The majority of the participants were females 1,246 (67.3%), in contrast to males 602 (32.7%), with a ratio of ≈2:1. Saudi nationals constitute more than half of the respondents 942 (50.9%), followed by other GCC nationals 906 (49.1%). The majority of the volunteers were highly educated. Most of the participants, 1,412 (76.3%), believed that COVID- 19 to be a life-threatening condition. Conclusion: Our study confirms the results of several local studies that the general awareness toward the newly emerging virus (COVID-19) is sufficient among the populations of GCC countries. However, the perception and awareness about the cutaneous and dermatological presentations of COVID-19 still pause an obstacle for most of the representative sample. Therefore, further studies are required to investigate the actual deficient in the educational programs provided by the GCC ministries of health.