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
A case–control study (80 patients with chronic hepatitis B virus [HBV] infection and 96 controls) was performed to evaluate the association of an IL12A gene variant (rs582537 A/C/G) with HBV infection. Allele G showed a signifcantly lower frequency in patients compared to controls (31.2 vs. 46.9%; probability [p]=0.009; corrected p [pc]=0.027) and was associated with a lower risk of HBV infection (odds ratio [OR]=0.49; 95% confdence interval [CI]=0.29–0.83). A similar lower risk was associated with genotypes CG (17.5 vs. 29.2; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.08–0.81; p=0.02) and GG (10.0 vs. 16.7; OR=0.25; 95% CI=0.07–0.91; p=0.036), but the pc value was not signifcant (0.12 and 0.126, respec‑ tively). Serum IL35 levels showed signifcant difere
... Show MoreSwimming has now become the focus of attention of specialists, which has led to the search for the best methods and various methods of training, which rely heavily on scientific research and studies, through the use of proper planning and a comprehensive scientific and practical vision in the preparation and training process for this game. Some studies have proven that The use of training methods has a positive role in the athletic training of the swimmer, provided that these methods are used in the correct way according to the scientific principles of training and with the loads and stresses that serve the specialized activity, i.e. the swimming distance. The study aimed at the follow 1- Preparing exercises using elastic ro
... Show MoreThe education sector suffers from many problems, including the scarcity of schools that can absorb the increasing number of students in light of the increasing population growth rate, as some regions suffer from a lack of opening of new schools or the expansion of existing schools to increase their capacity so that attention is required. The research sought to identify the level of maturity of project management at the research site (Building Department in Al-Karkh I/ Ministry of Education) Being responsible for educational projects and their implementation and to know that, the ten areas of the knowledge guide to project management PMBOK have been adopted according to the PM3 model (one of the models of maturity
... Show MoreThe Present study aims to investigate the attitude toward extremism of the university student and to find differences with three variables, gender field of study ,grade), For the purposes of the study on(3) level scale of the attitude towards extremism , and subjected to validity and credibility ,the scale was designed for ( 590) students sample (237) males ,and (357) females Results shown that students has a mild attitude towards extremism compared with the average of the scale attitude towards Religious extremism occupied the number one level ,followed by social extremism and lastly political extremism in Results also shown different in gender (males ,females) with the males having the granter attitude towards extremism as for the othe
... Show MoreThis Study Aimed to Recognize the Self-Efficacy Level Among Musically Talented Students the sample of this study consisted of (85) Musically smart students male and female students in Irbid governorate, of the analytical descriptive method ، and the Self-Efficacy scale were used, and the results indicated the following:
-The Self-Efficacy level among Musically smart students was high.
-There are no statistically significant differences (α ≥ 0.05)due to the impact of gender in a the total degree .
-There are no statistically significant differences (α=0.05) due to the impact of stage in a the total degree.
Background: Dental caries is generally given the highest priority in national oral health services for adult populations. Yet, there is no study which has explored the impact on quality of life specifically related to dental caries in samples of dental students. The purpose of the current study was to assess the impact of caries experience on quality of life among dental students in three governorates in Iraq. Materials and Methods: This observational study included 1364 dental students aged 18–22 years old, from three governorates. Information on quality of life was obtained from a structured, self-administered questionnaire from the students who were willing to participate in the study. The data was collected, summarized and sta
... Show MoreThe research seeks to design a program of guidance in the form of emotional perception rational to reduce the fear of failure, to identify the effect of method of emotional perception rational in reducing the fear of failure. To achieve these objectives, the researcher adopted the null-hypotheses, which assume there are no statistically significant differences in the degree of fear of failure (for the control group) in the pre-posttest. There are no statistically significant differences in the fear of failure (for the experimental group) in the pre-posttest. There were no statistically significant differences in the fear of failure of the groups (experimental and control) after the application of the program in the post-test. In order to
... Show MoreObjectives: To assess the quality of life for adult patients with peptic ulcers in the city of Sulaimani.
Methodology: A descriptive study, using the assessment approach was conducted on patients with peptic ulcer
disease from January 12th, 2009 to September 30th, 2009. A purposive "non-probability" sample of (100) paƟents
(males and females) with peptic ulcers who attended Kurdistan Center for Gastroenterology and Hepatology were
selected for the study. A questionnaire was adapted from the World Health Organization quality of life questionnaire
(1998) for the purpose of the study. It is comprised of (3) parts that included sociodemographic characteristics form,
medical history form and adult peptic ulcers patients' qu