Introduction: Although it is discouraged, community pharmacy customers can obtain oral corticosteroids (OCSs) without prescriptions from some community pharmacies in Iraq. Medication abuse is defined as the use of medication for non-medical reasons. Objectives: The study aimed to determine demographics, beliefs, and perceptions associated with the abuse of oral corticosteroids for non-illness reasons among community pharmacy customers. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in fall 2018 in four provinces in Iraq. Customers of 19 community pharmacies asking for OCSs for themselves without a prescription were administered a paper survey. This study used the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) to measure the relationship between the motivational factors and the abuse of OCSs. Logistic regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the relationships between the use of OCSs for non-illness and six TRA factors: Normative belief, behavioral belief, evaluation of the behavior, motivation to comply, subjective norms and attitude toward behavior. Results: The study enrolled 141 participants (98 women and 43 men) taking asking for OCSs without prescription. Dexamethasone was the most commonly used OCSs (59.6%). Friends were the primary recommenders for corticosteroids abuse (28.4%). The main reasons for using OCSs were to increase appetite and gain weight (53.9 %). Approximately one-third (36.2 %) of the participants gained weight after using OCSs. The regression analysis of the TRA variables showed two factors were significantly related to the abuse of OCSs. Age had a significant inverse relationship with the abuse of OCSs and the "good appearance" belief had a significant positive association with OCS abuse. Conclusion: Some Iraqi community pharmacy customers use non-prescribed oral corticosteroids to increase appetite and gain weight. Improve body appearance represents the dominant incentive that urges people to use OCSs without prescription. Health officials and healthcare practitioners need to promote people's awareness about the risks of misusing OCSs through education programs and advertisements in public health settings, media, and social media. Article Type: Original Research
Recurrent respiratory tract infections are responsible for about 85% of all diseases in childhood, and are associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to evaluate the main causes underlying recurrent respiratory tract infections in 176 pediatric patients aged 2 month to 4 year and weight from 4 to11 kg referred to the child center hospital and Al-sader hospital prospective study.All parents were given information sheet which then analyzed and the percentage of incidence of causes were recorded, we found that higher % related to many causes; mostly related to the parent like poor family education, mother carelessness, incomplete vaccination, other related to empirical diagnosis, and short course of t
... Show MoreThe current study aims at identifying:
1-The intellectual stress of counselors according to gender variable (male, female ).
2-The five major factors of the Counselor's Personality.
3- The relationship between intellectual stress and the five major factors of the councilors' personality and according to gender variable (male, female ).
4-The significant differences in the relationship between intellectual stress and the five major factors of the councilors' personality and according to gender variable (male, female ).
The sample of the study includes (260) counselors (130 male
... Show MoreThe study seeks the relationship between the mathematical-procedural Knowledge and the logical-mathematical intelligence among students at the third stage in mathematics department. To this end, three questions were arisen: what is the level of mathematical-procedural Knowledge among the third stage students in mathematics department regarding their gender? Do male or female students have more logical-mathematical intelligence and are there significant differences base on their gender? What kind of correlation is between the level of mathematical-procedural Knowledge and the logical-mathematical intelligence of male and female students in the third stage in the mathematics department? A sample of (75) male and female students at the thir
... Show MoreThis study aims to find the effect of water-cement ratio on the compressive strength of concrete by using ultrasonic pulse velocity test (UPVT). Over 230 standard cube specimens were used in this study, with dimensions of 150mm, and concrete cubes were cured in water at 20 °C. Also, the specimens used in the study were made of concrete with varied water-cement ratio contents from 0.48 to 0.59. The specimens were taken from Diyarbakir-Turkey concrete centers and tested at the structure and material science lab, civil engineering, faculty of engineering from Dicle University. The UPV measurement and compressive strength tests were carried out at the concrete age of 28 days. Their UPV and compressive strength ranged
... Show MorePhotodynamic Action (PDA) by using appropriate wavelength of irradiation conjugated with porphyrin derivatives is a powerful mechanism of tumor destruction. Hematoporphyrin derivative has been shown to selectively localize in neoplastic cells and then cause destruction of them by generation of singlet oxygen when activated by low power He-Ne laser. Light which used in this study has been emitting from this laser has a wavelength equal to 632.8 nm (red light). Doses of laser had been varied from 3.6 J/cm2 to 14.4 J/cm2 . The beam of laser adjusted with a modified tissue culture plate. Cell lines had exposed to Hematoporphyrin D (HpD) for 24 hours before Laser exposure, their concentrations were varied from 5 µg/ml to 80 µg/ml. Resu
... Show MoreIn this paper, the relationship between urban growth, land use, site availability, and impacts on the general appearance of the city generated by functional characteristics of port cities were analyzed. Various data were used to identify patterns of land use change and city growth and expansion. The research aims to analyze the impact of the port on the growth of the city, study the urban growth of the city of Umm Qasr and predicting the growth trends, and to identify the most influential factors in this growth. The study dealt with the concepts of urban growth and the factors that characterize the growth of port cities and the current situation of the city. The practical part included the mechanisms used by the researcher to analyze the
... Show MoreMalaysia is linked to the countries of the Middle East by a historical relationship identified by a number of factors and determinants that affected the developments of that relationship, especially its relentless endeavor to preserve its Islamic identity with the leadership of the rest of the other ethnicities, in addition to those factors and international determinants that directly affected the typicality of this relationship and perhaps the United States stands At the forefront of who represents this international variable, as it is considered the Middle East region as a core region and within its vital field, and therefore any analog relationship in the field of international relations and one of its parties is the countries of the
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