Abstract: antibiotics Article Clinical Efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine in Patients with COVID-19: Findings from an Observational Comparative Study in Saudi Arabia Saleh Alghamdi 1 , Bassant Barakat 1 , Ilhem Berrou 2, * , Abdulhakim Alzahrani 3 , Abdul Haseeb 4 , Mohamed Anwar Hammad 1 , Sirajudheen Anwar 5 , Abdulmajeed Abdulghani A. Sindi 6 , Hussain A. Almasmoum 7 and Mohammad Albanghali 8 1 2 3 4 5



 6 7 Citation: Alghamdi, S.; Barakat, B.; Berrou, I.; Alzahrani, A.; Haseeb, A.; 8 Hammad, M.A.; Anwar, S.; Sindi, A.A.A.; Almasmoum, H.A.; * Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Clinical Pharmacy, Albaha University, Albaha 57911, Saudi Arabia; saleh.alghamdi@bu.edu.sa (S.A.); bbarakat@bu.edu.sa (B.B.); m.anwar@bu.edu.sa (M.A.H.) School of Health and Social Wellbeing, University of the West of England, Staple Hill, Bristol BS16 1DD, UK Pharmaceutical Care Services Department, King Fahad Hospital, Albaha 57911, Saudi Arabia; aalzahrani116@moh.gov.sa Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24231, Saudi Arabia; amhaseeb@uqu.edu.sa Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, University of Hail, Hail 55482, Saudi Arabia; si.anwar@uoh.edu.sa Department of Basic Medical Science, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Albaha University, Albaha 57911, Saudi Arabia; asindi@bu.edu.sa Department of Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah 24231, Saudi Arabia; Haamasmoum@uqu.edu.sa Department of Public Health, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Albaha University, Albaha 57911, Saudi Arabia; mohammad.aref@bu.edu.sa Correspondence: ilhem.berrou@uwe.ac.uk; Tel.: +44-11732-84053 Albanghali, M. Clinical Efficacy of Hydroxychloroquine in Patients with COVID-19: Findings from an Observational Comparative Study in Saudi Arabia. Antibiotics 2021, 10, 365. https://doi.org/10.3390/ antibiotics10040365 Academic Editor: Nahed El-Najjar Received: 3 March 2021 Accepted: 28 March 2021 Published: 31 March 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Abstract: The aim of this study was to assess the clinical effectiveness of Hydroxychloroquine-based regimens versus standard treatment in patients with the coronavirus disease admitted in 2019 to a hospital in Saudi Arabia. A comparative observational study, using routine hospital data, was carried out in a large tertiary care hospital in Al Baha, Saudi Arabia, providing care to patients with COVID-19 between April 2019 and August 2019. Patients were categorized into two groups: the Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) group, treated with HCQ in a dose of 400 mg twice daily on the first day, followed by 200 mg twice daily; the non HCQ group, treated with other antiviral or antibacterial treatments according to protocols recommended by the Ministry of Health (MOH) at the time. The primary outcomes were the length of hospital stay, need for admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), time in ICU, and need for mechanical ventilation. Overall survival was also assessed. 568 patients who received HCQ (treatment group) were compared with 207 patients who did not receive HCQ (control group). HCQ did not improve mortality in the treated group (7.7% vs. 7.2%). There were no significant differences in terms of duration of hospitalization, need for and time in ICU, and need for mechanical ventilation among the groups. Our..