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
This research dealt with the impact of internal control on tax performance using balanced scorecard indicators because of its special importance in improving tax performance and reform. The internal control system is a safety valve for senior management in all organizations, it plays an important role in the regularity and development of work and the fight against corruption To provide reliable and accurate data and information, follow up on compliance with laws, regulations and instructions. The aim of this research is to demonstrate how control affects tax performance and how to adapt internal control components to improve tax performance. In the General Authority for taxes and its branches,. The research resulted in a number of conclu
... Show MoreDiabetes mellitus is a chronic illness that commonly leads to progressive and incapacitating of patients’ condition over the past 20 years.
The aim of the study was to evaluate the effects of the coughing technique, ShotBlockerTo evaluate the effects of the coughing technique, ShotBlocker and vibration device on pain intensity and patient satisfaction during subcutaneous (SC) insulin injections in hospitalised adults with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Arthroscopic knee surgeries are performed in very large numbers worldwide, and in spite of relatively low complication rate, but the total number is significant. Some of these complications are due to tourniquet use and can be serious. OBJECTIVE: Is to asses if automated pump (with or without) dilute epinephrine saline irrigation can replace the tourniquet use in soft tissue arthroscopic knee surgeries. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 36 patients (9 females 25 % and 27 males 75 %) were included in this prospective experimental nonrandomized study, and were necessitated soft tissue arthroscopic knee surgeries. Patients were divided into two groups, in group A (patients) tourniquet and automated pump were used. In group B (18 pati
... Show MoreThe process of selection assure the objective of receiving for chosen ones to high levels more than other ways , and the problem of this research came by these inquires (what is the variables of limits we must considered when first preliminaries selections for mini basket ? and what is the proper test that suits this category ? and is there any standards references it can be depend on it ?) also the aims of this research that knowing the limits variables to basketball mini and their tests as a indicators for preliminaries for mini basketball category in ages (9-12) years and specifies standards (modified standards degrees in following method) to tests results to some limits variables for research sample. Also the researchers depends on (16)
... Show MoreToni Morrison (1931-), the first African-American winner of Noble Prize in literature (1993) and the winner of the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for fiction, regards herself as the historian of African-American people. She does not think of her writings as literature but as a sacred book dedicated to explore the interior lives of blacks. She creates history by disregarding European standards and the white man's view of African- Americans. She adopts her people's point of view, invests their heritage, voices their pains and uses their vernacular. She even writes to a black audience. She establishes the black novel by depicting the blackness of American literature. In choos
... Show MoreEarth cover of the city of Baghdad was studied exclusively within its administrative border during the period 1986-2019 using satellite scenes every five years, as Landsat TM5 and OLI8 satellite images were used. The land has been classified into ten subclasses according to the characteristics of the land cover and was classified using the Maximum Likelihood classifier. A study of the changing urban reality of the city of Baghdad during that period and the change of vegetation due to environmental factors, human influences and some human phenomena that affected the accuracy of the classification for some areas east of the city of Baghdad is presented. The year 2019 has been highlighted because of its privacy in changing the land cover of th
... Show MoreThe work reported in this study focusing on the abrasive wear behavior for three types of pipes used in oil industries (Carbone steel, Alloy steel and Stainless steel) using a wear apparatus for dry and wet tests, manufactured according to ASTM G65. Silica sand with
hardness (1000-1100) HV was used as abrasive material. The abrasive wear of these pipes has been measured experimentally by measuring the wear rate for each case under different sliding speeds, applied loads, and sand conditions (dry or wet). All tests have been conducted using sand of particle size (200-425) µm, ambient temperature of 34.5 °C and humidity 22% (Lab conditions).
The results show that the material loss due to abrasive wear increased monotonically with
Leading edge serration is now a well-established and effective passive control device for the reduction of turbulence–leading edge interaction noise, and for the suppression of boundary layer separation at high angle of attack. It is envisaged that leading edge blowing could produce the same mechanisms as those produced by a serrated leading edge to enhance the aeroacoustics and aerodynamic performances of aerofoil. Aeroacoustically, injection of mass airflow from the leading edge (against the incoming turbulent flow) can be an effective mechanism to decrease the turbulence intensity, and/or alter the stagnation point. According to classical theory on the aerofoil leading edge noise, there is a potential for the leading edge blowi
... Show MoreBlockchain is an innovative technology that has gained interest in all sectors in the era of digital transformation where it manages transactions and saves them in a database. With the increasing financial transactions and the rapidly developed society with growing businesses many people looking for the dream of a better financially independent life, stray from large corporations and organizations to form startups and small businesses. Recently, the increasing demand for employees or institutes to prepare and manage contracts, papers, and the verifications process, in addition to human mistakes led to the emergence of a smart contract. The smart contract has been developed to save time and provide more confidence while dealing, as well a
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