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 estimation of the amounts of Surface runoff resulting from rainfall in the water basins is of great importance in water resources management. The study area (Bahr Al-Najaf) is located on the western edge of the plateau and the southwestern part of the city center of Najaf, with an area of 2729.4 (km2). The soil and water assessment tool (SWAT) with ArcGIS software was used to simulate the runoff coming from the three main valleys (Kharr (A and B)), Shoaib Al-Rahimawi, and Maleh), that contribute the flow to the study area. The results of the model showed that the SWAT software was successfully simulating the flow conditions based on the coefficient of determination (R2), the Nash coefficient (NS
... Show MoreThis research aimed to develop a simulation traffic model for an urban street with heterogeneous traffic capable of analyzing different types of vehicles of static and dynamic characteristics based on trajectory analysis that demonstrated psychophysical driver behavior. The base developed model for urban traffic was performed based on the collected field data for the major urban street in Baghdad city. The parameter; CC1 minimum headway (represented the speed-dependent of the safety distance from stop line that the driver desired) justified in the range from (2.86sec) to (2.17 sec) indicated a good match to reflect the actual traffic behavior for urban traffic streets. A good indication of the convergence between simulat
... Show Moreformation constants for the conrdination of aniline pyridine dimethyl sulfoxide dimethyl formamide ethanol dimethylamine have been determined the cordination
The research aims to show the dimensions of organizational trust represented by (administrative policies opportunities for innovation and self innovation and self- realization,availability of information,prevailing organizational values) and its reiationship to achieving the strategic position of banks represented by formation of expectations,buiiding networks,learning operations As the research was applied in each of the banks (middle east)Iraqi investment,Al-Ahly Iraqi, Business Bay, Al- Mansour investment bank),the qusestionnaire was adopted as a tool to collect data and information from the sample number (138)who are in the site (department director, division ,M.division director ,division officer, unit officer)the statistica
... Show MoreThe goal of the study is to discover the best model for forecasting the exchange rate of the US dollar against the Iraqi dinar by analyzing time series using the Box Jenkis approach, which is one of the most significant subjects in the statistical sciences employed in the analysis. The exchange rate of the dollar is considered one of the most important determinants of the relative level of the health of the country's economy. It is considered the most watched, analyzed and manipulated measure by the government. There are factors affecting in determining the exchange rate, the most important of which are the amount of money, interest rate and local inflation global balance of payments. The data for the research that represents the exchange r
... Show MoreDifferent frequency distributions models were fitted to the monthly data of raw water Turbidity at water treatment plants (WTPs) along Tigris River in Baghdad. Eight water treatment plants in Baghdad were selected, with raw water turbidity data for the period (2008-2014). The frequency distribution models used in this study are the Normal, Log-normal, Weibull, Exponential and two parameters Gamma type. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to evaluate the goodness of fit. The data for years (2008-2011) were used for building the models. The best fitted distributions were Log-Normal (LN) for Al-Karkh, Al-Wathbah, Al-Qadisiya, Al- Dawrah and, Al-Rashid WTPs. Gamma distribution fitted well for East Tigris and Al-Karamah WTPs. As for Al-
... Show MoreThis study aimed to identify the degree of use computers in administrative functions (planning, organization, controlling, and evaluation) among school leaders and assistants in public education schools in Sharoorah governorate ، as well as to identify obstacles of use computers in administrative functions from the perspective of school leaders and assistants male and female in public schools during the academic year 1439-1440, the study sample (66) school leaders and assistants, males (58), a and females (44), , and to answer the questions of the study, the researchers developed a questionnaire consisting of (60) items, has been verified sincerity and persistence, and data analysis was used frequencies, percentages an
... Show MoreThe research aims at the identity of the accounting information and its characteristics, and then to study the possibility of using accounting information in rationalizing the decisions of capital expenditure. The study relied upon the descriptive analytical approach it is suitable to the nature of this study, the hypotheses of the study were tested by using a number of statistical methods by relying on statistical package program (SPSS), and the research concluded that the companies listed in Khartoum Stock Exchange using accounting information in the comparison between investment alternatives available and estimating the number of years required to recover of the investment cost, the challenges that cause weakness in using the
... Show MoreIraq suffers from serious pollution with harmful particles that have important direct and indirect effects on human activities and human health. In this research, a system for detecting pollutants in the air was designed and manufactured using infrared laser technology. This system was used to detect the presence of pollutants in the dust storms that swept the city of Baghdad which could have a negative impact on human health and living organisms.
The designed detection system based on the use of infrared laser (IR) with a wavelength of 1064 nm was used for the purposes of detecting pollutants based on the scattering of the laser beam from these pollutants. The system was aligned to obtain the best signal for the scattered rays, w
... Show MoreDifferent frequency distributions models were fitted to the monthly data of raw water Turbidity at water treatment plants (WTPs) along Tigris River in Baghdad. Eight water treatment plants in Baghdad were selected, with raw water turbidity data for the period (2008-2014). The frequency distribution models used in this study are the Normal, Log-normal, Weibull, Exponential and two parameters Gamma type. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to evaluate the goodness of fit. The data for years (2008-2011) were used for building the models. The best fitted distributions were Log-Normal (LN) for Al-Karkh, Al-Wathbah, Al-Qadisiya, Al-Dawrah and, Al-Rashid WTPs. Gamma distribution fitted well for East Tigris and Al-Karamah
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