Background: Occupational exposure to hazardous drugs occurs in all aspects of anticancer drug handling. Proper recommendations and guidelines should be applied to control and reduce exposure. Objective: To assess pharmacists' knowledge and practice regarding the safe handling of anticancer drugs. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at seven major hospitals in Baghdad City, Iraq, from December 2023 to February 2024. A pre-designed questionnaire was given to pharmacists who handled anticancer drugs in chemotherapy units. The questionnaire comprises sociodemographic data, knowledge of the safe handling of cytotoxic drugs and thoughts about exposure and risk, practices for safely handling cytotoxic drugs, and challenges for safely handling cytotoxic drugs. Results: A total of 126 pharmacists were enrolled in the study. Less than half of the participants (46%) received training on anticancer drugs. While more than a third (42.9%) of the pharmacists were handling more than 100 cytotoxic preparations weekly, the total knowledge score was 7.14, while the total practice score was 73.36, with less than half of the pharmacists having good knowledge (44.44%) or practice (48.41%). Pharmacists who received training had significantly higher total practice scores than those who did not. Pharmacists with more than 100 weekly preparations were more knowledgeable than those with 50–99 preparations. Conclusions: The majority of participating pharmacists had fair to excellent knowledge and practice regarding the safe handling of cytotoxic medications. However, there were some gaps regarding important knowledge and practice issues. To improve knowledge and practices regarding anticancer handling, training is necessary.
The present paper is a qualitative descriptive study. It aims to examine the macro-cultural schemata addressing the concept of violence against women in Iraq from a cognitive linguistic point of view. To meet this objective, a number of Iraqi social caricatures have been selected from two popular and active Iraqi caricaturists, Odeh Al-Fahdawi and Nasser Ibrahim. The selection and the analysis of data have been achieved following the validity and reliability procedures and the ethical considerations. To meet this objective, Sharifian’s Model (2011) of Cultural Schemata has been adopted in data analysis. The study has concluded that the macro-cultural schemata regarding the concept of violence in the selected panels reveals that violenc
... Show MoreRheumatoid arthritis is a worldwide inflammatory chronic autoimmune disease with varying severity. Due to no definitive cure for this disease, current therapies aim to decrease the pain and slow further damage. The interleukin (IL)‐36 cytokine was little known for its role in rheumatoid arthritis; this research aimed to evaluate the serum IL36 levels in RA patients compared to healthy controls. This study included 80 patients with rheumatoid arthritis registered at the Rheumatology Clinic in Baghdad teaching hospital. The patients were divided into three groups based on the treatments received. Group 1 included patients treated with biological therapy (etanercept, adalimumab), Group2 patients with non-biological treatment (methotr
... Show MoreAsphaltene is a component class that may precipitate from petroleum as a highly viscous and sticky material that is likely to cause deposition problems in a reservoir, in production well, transportation, and in process plants. It is more important to locate the asphaltene precipitation conditions (precipitation pressure and temperature) before the occurring problem of asphaltene deposition to prevent it and eliminate the burden of high treatment costs of this problem if it happens. There are different models which are used in this flow assurance problem (asphaltene precipitation and deposition problem) and these models depend on experimental testing of asphaltene properties. In this study, the used model was equation of
... Show MoreBackground: Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is one of the most common oral mucosa diseases characterized by recurrent, shallow, round or oval painful oral ulcers surrounded by inflammatory erythematous halos, the condition is chronic and self-limiting in immunocompetent patients. Aim of the study: to investigate the serum vitamin D levels in Iraqi female patients with RAS and the relationship between vitamin D levels and the severity of RAS. In this cross sectional study 30 female patients with idiopathic RAS, and 30 age and sex matched healthy controls were included, the severity of RAS is assessed by the number of oral aphthous ulcers in each attack and the frequency of attacks. Serum 25(OH) D levels were determined by the Enzy
... Show MoreAcute myeloid leukemia (AML) is heterogeneous disorders originated from the abnormalities in the proliferation and maturation of myeloid progenitors in bone morrow. There is a clinical correlation between immunity engines and disease progression, but this relationship is not completely clear yet. This study was designed to assess the full immune response in Iraqi patients diagnosed with AML. Patients and healthy volunteers were divided into three groups: newly diagnosed untreated, under chemotherapy treatment patients and control group. A significant reduction were seen in C4 and IFN-γ levels in both untreated and treated groups with no significant difference between untreated and treated groups. On the other hand, IL-2 and IL-8 levels inc
... Show MoreThe prospective study has been designed to determine some biomarkers in Iraqi female patients with
breast cancer. The current study contained 30 patients whose tissue samples have been collected from
hospitals in Medical City in Baghdad after consent patients themselves and used immunohistochemical
technique to determine these markers. The results showed a significant correlation between ER and PR tissue
markers (Sig = 0.000) and a significant correlation between cyclin E phenotype and cyclin E intensity (Sig =
0.001).
The aim of the present study is to compare the biochemical action of the three vaccines taken in Iraq: Pfizer Biontech, AstraZeneca Oxford and Sinopharm based on biochemical parameters. Seventy COVID-19 Iraqi patients ( males and females ) were participated in the present study and classified into 7 groups : Gc : COVID-19 patients ( without vaccine ) , Gp1: COVID-19 patients took one dose of Pfizer Biontech, Gp2 : COVID-19 patients took two doses of Pfizer Biontech, Ga1 : patients took one dose of AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine , Ga2: patients took two doses of AstraZeneca Oxford vaccine , Gs1 : patients took one dose of Sinopharm vaccine and Gs2:
... Show MoreThis research aims to conduct a linguistic analysis of the translation of the novel "The Corpse Washer" by the Iraqi author Sinan Antoon. The main objective is to explore the challenges and strategies involved in translating this literary work, particularly the difficulties in translating the Baghdadi dialect and the obstacles it poses for non-native speakers. Employing a descriptive research methodology, the study examines the linguistic aspects of the translation, specifically selected conversational texts in the novel. It identifies the difficulties faced by translators in preserving the essence of the original novel and presents instances where errors occurred in translating vocabulary, conversational expressions, proverbs, and idi
... Show MoreBackground: Dental caries and periodontal disease are the most common and widely spread diseases affecting humans at different ages. Aim of this study is the assessment of prevalence and severity of dental caries, gingivitis, oral hygiene and enamel anomalies in relation to gender and residency among 15 years old students in Maysan governorate –Iraq. Materials and methods: The total sample composed of 750 students (400 males and 350 females, 450 urban and 300 rural) selected randomly from different high schools in the Governorate. Diagnoses and recording dental caries was according to the criteria of WHO (1987), Plaque index of Silness and Loe (1964) was used for plaque assessment, Ramfjord index (1959) was applied for the assessment
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