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
The research aimed to prepare a psychological counseling program for the coaches of the Sports Care Center in the gymnasium, and to learn about the impact of the psychological counseling program in reducing irrational ideas and causal attribution of the coaches of the Sports Talent Care Center in the gymnasium, to assume that there are statistically significant differences between the results of the tribal and posttests of the research group Experimental in the scale of irrational ideas, and there are statistically significant differences between the results of the tribal and posttests of the experimental research group in the scale of the causal attribution scale, The experimental approach was adopted by designing one experimental
... Show MoreIn the present work effect of recycled heating and cooling on the values of concrete compressive strength due to high temperature of 4000C was studied.
The tests show that the percent of reduction in compressive strength of the samples which exposed to a temperature of 4000C for one cycle was 32.5%, while the reduction was 52.7% for the samples which were exposed to recycled heating and cooling of ten times .
Moreover a study of the effect of specimen sizes on the percentages of compressive strength reduction due to high temperature
... Show MoreIn the present study, the effect of new cross-section fin geometries on overall thermal/fluid performance had been investigated. The cross-section included the base original geometry of (triangular, square, circular, and elliptical pin fins) by adding exterior extra fins along the sides of the origin fins. The present extra fins include rectangular extra fin of 2 mm (height) and 4 mm (width) and triangular extra fin of 2 mm (base) 4 mm (height). The use of entropy generation minimization method (EGM) allows the combined effect of thermal resistance and pressure drop to be assessed through the simultaneous interaction with the heat sink. A general dimensionless expression for the entropy generation rate is obtained by con
... Show MoreObjective: Evaluation of the poly ether keton keton polymer (PEKK) coating material on the commercial pure titanium disks (CP Ti) with or without laser surface structuring. Design: In vitro experimental study of PEKK polymer coated material on the CP Ti disks with or without laser surface structuring. Materials and methods: coating the surface of the commercial pure titanium (CP Ti) disks with PEKK polymer was performed via using frictional mode CO2 laser, then the samples disks analyzed by using FESEM. Results: the FESEM reveal good adherence and distribution of the PEKK coated material over the CP Ti substrate by using the frictional mode CO2 laser at 2 watt and 6 ms pulse duration. Conclusion: the frictional mode CO2 laser considered an
... Show MoreStumpff functions are an infinite series that depends on the value of z. This value results from multiplying the reciprocal semi-major axis with a universal anomaly. The purpose from those functions is to calculate the variation of the universal parameter (variable) using Kepler's equation for different orbits. In this paper, each range for the reciprocal of the semi-major axis, universal anomaly, and z is calculated in order to study the behavior of Stumpff functions C(z) and S(z). The results showed that when z grew, Stumpff functions for hyperbola, parabola, and elliptical orbits were also growing. They intersected and had a tendency towards zero for both hyperbola and parabola orbits, but for elliptical orbits, Stumpff functions
... Show MoreProviding useful information in estimating the amount and timing and the degree of uncertainty concerning the future cash flows is one of the three main objectives of the financial reporting system, which is done through the main financial statements. The interest on standard-setting bodies in the forecasting of future cash flows, especially Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) explain under Accounting Standard (1) of the year 1978 "Objectives of Financial Reporting by Business Enterprises", paragraph (37) thereof that accounting profits better than cash flows when forecasting future cash flows, In contrast, IAS (7) as amended in 1992 aims to compel economic units to prepare statement of c
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