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
Degradation is one of the key processes governing the impact of pharmaceuticals in the aquatic environment. Most studies on the degradation of pharmaceuticals have focused on soil and sludge, with fewer exploring persistence in aquatic sediments. We investigated the dissipation of 6 pharmaceuticals from different therapeutic classes in a range of sediment types. Dissipation of each pharmaceutical was found to follow first‐order exponential decay. Half‐lives in the sediments ranged from 9.5 (atenolol) to 78.8 (amitriptyline) d. Under sterile conditions, the persistence of pharmaceuticals was considerably longer. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was performed to
Carbamazepine is an anticonvulsant agent which acts on the central nervous system and used for the treatment of epilepsy. Carbamazepine was formulated as an oral extended release tablets using ethyl cellulose as retardant substance. Different types of tablets additives such as cellulose materials (sodium carboxymethyl cellulose and microcrystalline cellulose ), lactose, calcium phosphate and solubilizing agents ( sodium lauryl sulphate and polyethylene glycol 6000) were utilized to study their effect on the release profile of drug from ethyl cellulose matrices. It was found that sodium carboxymethyl cellulose increased the carbamazepine release and the same effect was obtained when the same amount of microcrystalline cellulose used
... Show MoreThe research, entitled: "The Development Theory of Women's Empowerment in Islamic Sharia Law ", aims to show the means of human development for women through the texts of the Quran and Sunnah. It talked about the concept of human development for women, the goals of women's empowerment in legislative texts, the goals of human development in empowering women, the developmental aspect of women in the Sunnah of the Prophet, the integration of development in Islamic Sharia Law , and then the conclusion and sources.
The majority of statisticians, if not most of them, are primarily concerned with the theoretical aspects of their field of work rather than their application to the practical aspects. Its importance as well as its direct impact on the development of various sciences. Although the theoretical aspect is the first and decisive basis in determining the degree of accuracy of any research work, we always emphasize the importance of the applied aspects that are clear to everyone, as well as its direct impact on the development of different sciences. The measurements of public opinion is one of the most important aspects of the application of statistics, which has taken today, a global resonance and has become a global language that everyone can
... Show MoreEducation quality evaluation is one of the objectives of education quality. The evaluation includes assessing the education standards and academic program outcomes to develop intellectual, scientific and practical concepts for the educational structure. It considers the determination of the rates of the number of accepted students and graduates. The research focuses on "what are the levels of education quality according to the evaluation mechanisms in the design department" to enhance the quality system and the objectives of theoretical and applied education.
It is identifying the levels of education quality and evaluating it according to the numbers and rates of graduate students of the design department branches for morning and ev
The effective application of the method of measuring and evaluating performance according to the Balanced Scorecard the need for an information system a comprehensive and integrated for internal and external environment, Which requires the need to develop accounting information system in general and cost management information systems to suit the particular requirements of the environment in terms of the development of modern methods of measurement to include the use of some methods that have proven effective in measuring and evaluating performance.
The research problem in need of management to develop methods of measuring and evaluating performance through the use of both financial measures and non
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The study aims to identify the level of health services provided in private suites to government hospitals from the perspective of the recipi
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