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
Abstract
This study aims to identify the reality of using electronic applications in teaching language skills to people with mild intellectual disabilities from the mothers’ perspective. A descriptive approach was used. The electronic questionnaires were administered to the study sample, 122 responses were received from mothers of the students with mild intellectual disability in Hafer Al-Baten schools. The response average rate was 94%. The results showed that there are statistically significant differences that are related to the variant of monthly income as for the barriers to using electronic applications in such schools, whereas there were no differences regarding the variant of monthly income regarding t
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This study aimed to identify the business risks using the approach of the client strategy analysis in order to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit process. A study of business risks and their impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of the audit process has been performed to establish a cognitive framework of the main objective of this study, in which the descriptive analytical method has been adopted. A survey questionnaire has been developed and distributed to the targeted group of audit firms which have profession license from the Auditors Association in the Gaza Strip (63 offices). A hundred questionnaires have been distributed to the study sample of which, a total of 84 where answered and
... Show MoreVirtual reality, VR, offers many benefits to technical education, including the delivery of information through multiple active channels, the addressing of different learning styles, and experiential-based learning. This paper presents work performed by the authors to apply VR to engineering education, in three broad project areas: virtual robotic learning, virtual mechatronics laboratory, and a virtual manufacturing platform. The first area provides guided exploration of domains otherwise inaccessible, such as the robotic cell components, robotic kinematics and work envelope. The second promotes mechatronics learning and guidance for new mechatronics engineers when dealing with robots in a safe and interactive manner. And the thir
... Show MoreThis study measured and analyzed job satisfaction among faculty members at the university of Irbid College in relation to gender social status, years of experience, academic rank , qualification, the population consisted of 110 full-time Jordanian factually members. A total of 72. (61%) factually, members participated in this study. The research instrument which was developed by the researcher consisted of tow parts: personal information and the job Satisfaction Questionnaire Frequencies, percentages, means and one-way analyses of variance were employed to analyze the data. The level of significance was set at 0.05. A Secheffe method of multiple comparisons was used for follow-up investigation.
... Show MoreObjective: The study aims to determine the effect of Toxoplasma gondii infection on the
genetic sequence of breast cancer patients in the Medical City Hospital – Tumor Unit /
Iraq-Baghdad.
Methodology: A study was carried out in the City of Medicine / Oncology Unit / Baghdad,
during the period 1st June 2016 to 15
th March 2017. Forty samples of tissue and serum
were collected from patients who complaining from Breast cancer and infected with
Toxoplasmosis. Forty sera samples were taken from patients complaining from parasitic
infection only; without breast cancer as control group. Data is analyzed by using of
descriptive and inferential data analysis methods.
Results: The results show that there is an effe
Background: The socioeconomic is important factor that effect in the severity and prevalence of most predominant and wide spread oral disease named dental caries, since this oral disease effects children, adolescents, adults and elderly peoples especially in developing countries as in Iraq.This survey was aimed to investigate the prevalence and severity of dental caries in relation to socioeconomic status. Materials and Methods: This oral health survey was conducted among primary and secondary school students aged 12 years old in Dewanyiah governorate in Iraq. The total sample composed of 804 (401 boys and 403 girls) selected randomly from different schools in Dewanyiah governorate. Diagnosis and recording of dental caries was assessed ac
... Show MoreBackground: The symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) can lead to problems in movement and coordination that lead to difficulty in maintaining well oral cleaning which can then negatively affect dental status of those Patients. The aim of present study: To evaluate prosthetic status in relation to weight status and occupation by age and gender among Parkinson's disease Patients in Baghdad-Iraq. Methods: The sample consisted of 104 patients with Parkinson disease attended to the Neurosciences Hospital in Baghdad city / Iraq, aged 60-79 years Prosthetic Status was recorded according to WHO(1997). Weight status was recorded according to Trowbridge 1988 and occupation was recorded according to Erikson and Goldthorpe (1992) and Ganzeboom et al (
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