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: Background: Staphylococcus aureus is Gram-positive bacteria that lives as a normal flora in living organisms but can be pathogenic to humans. Although a relatively unspectacular, nonmotile coccoid bacterium, S. aureus is a dangerous human pathogen in both community-acquired and nosocomial infections. Due to the increasing emergence of new strains of this antibiotic-resistant bacteria, it has become essential to approach different methods to control this pathogen. One of these methods is the antimicrobial photodynamic inactivation process using a low-level laser, in this paper, the Photodynamic effects of Rose Bengal and LLLL on the virulence factors of S.aureus were evaluated.
Background and Aim. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major risk factor for the progression to heart failure (HF), which is associated with an increase in left ventricular volume (LVV). This study aims to measure ventricular function and myocardial perfusion imaging markers of the left side of the heart, which can be performed with injection of a 99mTc at stress and rest by using single-photonemission-computed-tomography (SPECT). Subject and methods. The study included 121 patients with CAD, comprising 53 females and 68 males with ages between 25 to 88 years and 265 healthy subjects comprising 84 males and 181 females. All patients and healthy subjects volunteered to participate in this study. They were classified according to
... Show MoreObjectives: the study aims to assess nurses' practices toward chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN) for children at the hematology center, and to determine the effectiveness of the health education program on nurses' practices toward CIPN, and to find out the relationships between the effectiveness of Health education program and demographic characteristics of nurses.
Methodology: Use quasi-experimental design in the study (a design that divides the sample into two groups, a study group and a control group, with data collection in three stages). This study was conducted at a hematology center in Baghdad city for the period (from December 16th, 2019 to 8th May 202
... Show MoreThe electrical insulation of the manufacture sulfonated phenol-formaldehyde viscous material (product) has been studied with Polyvinyl-acetate (PVA) and toluene diisocyanate (TDI) blend has been prepared by fixing percentage by weight 3:1 and mixed with different percentages by weight of the product sulfonated phenol formaldehyde viscous mass (SPF). The Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is done on (SPF) resin powder and prepared film of PVA-TDI-SPF viscous mass. The quality factor (Q), dissipation factor (D), parallel resistance (Rp), series resistance (Rs), parallel capacitance (Cp), series capacitance (Cs) and phase shift (?) are measured. The calculated maximum dielectric constant (??) is 3.49x107 at sample (1) wt.1% SPF vis
... Show MoreThis study describes the preparation of a new bidentate Schiff base derived from the condensation of Isatin-3-hydrazone with 2-acetylthiophene and the preparation of new series of complexes with a good yield. The prepared ligand was characterized by IR, UV-Vis, C.H.N.S elemental analysis, 1H and 13C NMR, LC-Mass spectroscopy, and physical measurements. Its complexes were analyzed by C.H.N.S elemental analyses, UV-Vis., FTIR, NMR, LC-Mass Spectra, atomic absorption spectroscopy, magnetic susceptibility, and conductivity measurements The results from spectroscopy and measurement studies showed that the ligand coordinated to the metal ion as a bidentate ligand via oxygen and nitrogen, forming an octahedral geometry around it. In vitro antimicr
... Show MoreOtitis media with effusion (OME) is a common disease especially among young children (before school age) and it is one of the common causes of acquired hearing loss in childhood. Pediatric patients with OME are usually undernourished. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the serum levels of trace elements (zinc, copper, magnesium, iron) have a role in the development of OME in children. This study carried out on 55 children and subdivided them into two groups. Group 1 (patient group) consist of 30 children suffering from OME and group 2 (control group) included 25 apparently healthy children. Serum levels of zinc, copper, magnesium and iron were measured for both groups. Comparison the results between the two groups showed t
... Show MoreMixed ligand metal complexes of CrIII, FeIII,II, NiII and CuII have been synthesized using 5-chlorosalicylic acid (5-CSA) as a primary ligand and L-Valine (L-Val) as secondary ligand. The metal complexes have been characterized by elemental analysis, electrical conductance, magnetic susceptibility measurements and spectral studies. The electrical conductance studies of the complexes indicate their electrolytic nature. Magnetic susceptibility measurements revealed paramagnetic nature of the all complexes. Bonding of the metal ion through –OHand –COOgroups of bidentate to the 5-chlorosalicylic acid and through –NH2 and –COOgroups of bidentate to the L-valine by FT-IR studies . The agar diffusion method has been used to study the antib
... Show MoreThe increasing use of antiseptic compounds creates selective pressure cause emergence of antiseptic resistance among Staphylococcus aureus .Resistance mechanism of antiseptic is driven mainly by multi drug resistant (MDR) efflux protein.Sixty five isolates of S.aureuswere collected from different clinical sources and subjected to 11 antibiotics most of them are recognized by efflux systems as extruded substrates. Range of efflux activity was estimated using cartwheel method. Simultaneous discrimination of antiseptic coding genes (qacA/B, smr and norA)as well as nuc and mecA genes among multidrug resistantS.aureus(MRSA) isolates was preformed using multiplex PCR assay
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