Abstract Asthma is a complex disease defined by chronic airway inflammation and airflow limitation causing variable respiratory symptoms which include shortness of breath (SOB), wheezing, chest tightness and cough. Asthma guidelines advocate adding a second long acting bronchodilator to medium doses of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) rather using high doses of ICS alone to control moderate to severe persistent asthma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of three medication regimens indicated for Iraqi patients suffering from persistent asthma. This study was interventional randomized clinical study conducted on a sample of adult Iraqi asthmatic patients in Baghdad City. The study composed of three visits distributed over eight weeks; baseline visit followed by first follow up and second follow up visits after four and eight weeks respectively. The study enrolled 78 adult patients with moderate to severe persistent asthma as diagnosed by specialist physician according to patient history and baseline pulmonary function test (PFT) and allocated them randomly to three groups (each group included 26 patients) to receive equivalent medium doses of budesonide inhaler in addition to either formoterol inhaler, oral modified release aminophylline tablets or tiotropium inhaler (first, second and third group respectively). Sixty four patients completed this study. The mean ages of patients were above 35 years with slightly more male predominance. The study groups developed significant increase of peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and forced vital capacity (FVC) values at the first follow up visit compared to baseline values (p<0.001). Thereafter, the first and third groups achieved significant higher values at the second follow up visit compared to first follow up visit (p<0.001), while second group produced no change. All the groups developed significant improvement of Mini asthma quality of life questionnaire (MiniAQLQ) scores and percentage of symptom free days (SFD) at first follow up visit and continued further significant improvement at the second follow up visit (p<0.001). Generally, between groups comparison according to extent of change of study parameters revealed that third group produced the greatest improvement over the entire study period followed by the first group, whereas the second group was associated with the least extent of improvement. This study concluded that all groups caused significant improvement in study parameters compared to baseline values and also concluded that the third group of inhaled [tiotropium/budesonide] was associated with the highest extent of improvement followed by first group, while the second group was the least.
Background: It is important to achieve good glycemic control to avoid long-term diabetic complications. It has been largely debated about the role of correct way of insulin administration to get the desired glycemic control.
Objective: To evaluate the effect of teaching diabetic patients who are on insulin therapy the correct way of injecting insulin and its effect on glycemic control.
Methods: A non randomized clinical trial with 820 diabetic patients on insulin therapy on whom A1 c estimation was performed before and after three months of teaching them the right injection technique.
Results : Sixty seven patients (8.17%) had A1 c 6.5% before they were enrolled in the study while the majority (753 patents, 91.82%) had A1 c 6.5%
The general trend in Iraqi banks is focused towards the application of international financial reporting standards, especially the international financial reporting standard IFRS 9 “Financial Instruments”, in addition to the directives issued on the Central Bank of Iraq’s instructions for the year 2018 regarding the development of expected credit losses models, and not to adhere to a specific method for calculating these losses and authorizing the banks’ departments to adopt the method of calculating losses that suits the nature of the bank’s activity and to be consistent in its use from time to time. The research problem revolves around the different methodologies for calculatin
... Show MoreIntroduction/Aim. Seminal fluid analysis (SFA) plays a crucial role in helping infertility clinics diagnose the underlying reason of male infertility. The aim of the study was to investigate seminal fluid patterns of male partners of an infertile couple with apparently fertile female partners. Materials and methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted between January 2019 and December 2022. Patients were attending consultations for delayed conception for more than 12 months with apparently fertile female partner. Results. Four hundred fifty-three patients were included in the study. The distribution of patients according to age groups showed that 277 patients were young, aged 21 - 30 years (61%). Two hundred sixty-two (58%) patien
... Show MoreBackground: Health education was put as one of the components of primary health care elements and was recognized as a fundamental tool to the attainment of health for all
Objective: To evaluate the Knowledge, attitude regarding health education & to find out if there is any association between the gathered data and certain variables (age, gender, educational level, occupation). Methods: A Cross-sectional study done at Al Mustansyryia Primary Health Care Center from the 1st of January to 1st of May 2016. All patients attending the Primary Health Care Centers who were above 18 years of age and willing to participate in the research (303) were included in t
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Abstract
The net profit reported in the annual financial statements of the companies listed in the financial markets, is considered one of the Sources of information relied upon by users of accounting information in making their investment decisions. At the same time be relied upon in calculating the bonus (Incentives) granted to management, therefore the management of companies to manipulate those numbers in order to increase those bonuses associated to earnings, This practices are called earnings management practices. the manipulation in the figures of earnings by management will mislead the users of financial statements who depend on reported earnings in their deci
... Show MoreObjective: To measure the effect of the pharmacist-led medication reconciliation service before hospital discharge on preventing potential medication errors. Methods: This behavioral interventional study took place in a public teaching hospital in Iraq between December 2022 and January 2023. It included inpatients who were taking four or more medications upon discharge from the internal medicine ward and the cardiac care unit. The researcher provided the patients with a medication reconciliation form and reconciliation form (including medication regimen and pharmacist instructions) before discharging them home. Any discrepancies between the patients’ understanding and the actual medication recommendations prescribed by the physici
... Show MoreBackground: It is well-known that silicon oil (SO) injection into the vitreous cavity after pars plana vitrectomy is usually associated with high intraocular pressure.
Objectives: To determine the influence of silicon oil (SO) removal on IOP level after pars plana vitrectomy for spontaneous rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD)
Subjects and Methods: A prospective study was conducted at Ibn Al-Haitham eye teaching hospital, Baghdad- Iraq. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured pre and post SO removal in patients who have underwent retinal detachment surgery with SO injection of 1000 centistokes (cSt) viscosity. Baseline IOP was measured for all the patient before the SO
... Show MorePatient safety is the main issue in health care organization, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality defines it as, “freedom from accidental or preventable injuries produced by medical care. Thus, practices or interventions that improve patient safety are those that reduce the occurrence of preventable adverse events”. The purpose of this study was to evaluate Iraqi pharmacist perception about the culture of patient safety. As well as estimate whether safety is a principal issue in their pharmaceutical practice this study was carried out on 435 pharmacists who are working in community pharmacies in various Iraqi provinces. A survey was distributed via the internet during the period from May to June 2020. A community pharmacy
... Show MoreTo determine the potential of gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) volume, E‐cadherin and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) levels to predict the outcomes of nonsurgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) for periodontitis patients.
NSPT is the gold‐standard treatment for periodontal pockets < 6 mm in depth, however, successful outcomes are not always guaranteed due to several factors. Periodontitis‐associated tissue destruction is evidenced by the increased level of soluble E‐cadherin and reduced antioxidants in oral fluids which could be used as predictors for success/failure of N
The current work aims to evaluate the association between genetic mutations in thymidylate synthetase (