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
Objective: This study goal was to screen participants from different settings in Baghdad for depression using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) scale and identify factors influencing the levels of depression. Methods: This cross-sectional study included a convenience sample of 313 people from four settings (teaching hospital, college of medicine, college of pharmacy, and high school) in Baghdad, Iraq. The participants were screened using paper survey relying on the BDI scale during spring 2018. Using multiple linear regression analysis, we measured the association between depression scores and six participant factors. Results: The overall prevalence of depression in our sample was 57.2%. Female participants had higher BDI
... Show MoreObjectives: The study aims to assess some of the contributing factors to abdominal postoperative wound infection and
to find out the relationship between postoperative wound infections and some socio-demographic characteristics such as
age, gender, level of education, occupation and residential area.
Methodology: A descriptive study was carried out in Sulaimani Teaching Hospital (Kurdistan Region). The study has
started from January 15th up to October 31th, 2009. To achieve the study objectives, a purposive "non probability"
sample of (100) patients who have abdominal postoperative wound infection, Adult female and male patients who were
admitted to Sulaimani Teaching Hospital was selected.
The data were collected th
Cilnidipine is a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker used to improve the neurological outcome following subarachnoid hemorrhage. It belongs to BCS class II drugs that have a low oral bioavailability of 13%, thus preparation as nanoparticles would be expected to improve bioavailability. The aim of the study is to prepare Cilnidipine as nanoparticles using different carriers and co-carriers, concentrations, and types. Cilnidipine nanoparticles were prepared by a solvent anti-solvent method using different carriers (Soluplus®, Poloxamer 188, PVA cold) with co-stabilizers (PEG200, glycerol) at different ratios. Based on the obtained results, formula N4, which included Soloplus in a 5:5:1.19 weight ratio of drug to
... Show MoreThat less duration takes larva mature into a virgin under field conditions is one day during Alguetrh from April to October and last longer to more than a day during Alguetrh from November to February and up to nine days in January when low minimum temperature to zero degreespercentage that these larvae can not be a high percentage in the field ranging from 90-100% reduced Hessian Alnsphaly 85% during the months of July and Cape
The aim of the study is to identify the barriers to dietary compliance among diabetic patients.
Methodology: The sample of the study consist of 100 patients who were divided into two groups according to
the type of diabetes mellitus; type 1 (Insulin-dependent diabetic mellitus), and type n (Non-Insulin dependent
diabetes mellitus). Each group consists of 50 patient selected randomly at each visit to Al-Waffa center in Mosul
city during the period from (1-12-2005) to (1-2-2006).
The steps of the study include recording the different barriers for diabetic patients. The questionnaire
was used and special list was utilized for such purpose.
Results: The results shows that there were some barriers most common such as both
Background: The roles of AI in the academic community continue to grow, especially in the enhancement of learning outcomes and the improvement of writing quality and efficiency. Objectives: To explore in depth the experience of senior pharmacy students in using artificial intelligence for academic purposes. Methods: This qualitative study included face-to-face individual interviews with senior pharmacy students from March to May 2023 using a pre-planned interview guide of open-ended questions. All interviews were audio-recorded. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The results were obtained from 15 in-depth face-to-face interviews with senior pharmacy students (5th and 4th years). Eight participants were male, an
... Show MoreBackground: The roles of AI in the academic community continue to grow, especially in the enhancement of learning outcomes and the improvement of writing quality and efficiency. Objectives: To explore in depth the experience of senior pharmacy students in using artificial intelligence for academic purposes. Methods: This qualitative study included face-to-face individual interviews with senior pharmacy students from March to May 2023 using a pre-planned interview guide of open-ended questions. All interviews were audio-recorded. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: The results were obtained from 15 in-depth face-to-face interviews with senior pharmacy students (5th and 4th years). Eight participants were male, and seven
... Show MoreIt is very well known in the planning publications that when creating spacing development to a region or sub-region, it can be able to make more than an alternative consisting with the strategic directions overtaken from the actual development of region and the situational and developmental objectives needed. However, the difficulty facing the situational planning is in selecting one of these alternatives to be the best in order to make a balanced situational re-structure, and achieving the economic, social and civil objectives. The developmental situation elements in the regions and governorates, including (Karbala) impose themselves as situational power which implies the process of re-structural arrangement where the situational develo
... Show MoreBackground: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a relatively common chronic inflammatory muco-cutaneous disease classified among the potentially malignant lesions of oral mucosa. The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the expression of p53 and PCNA proteins in oral lichen planus and epithelial dysplasia cases. Materials and methods:Formalin-fixed and paraffin- embedded blocks of 21 lichen planusand 21 oral dysplasia cases were referred to immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis for anti p53 and anti PCNA monoclonal antibodies. Results: The results showed that positive nuclear staining for p53 was found in 11/21 (52.4%) cases of lichen planus and 17/21 (80.9%) cases of dysplasia. Positivity for PCNA was observed in 18/21(85.7%) of oral li
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