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
Abstract
Prescribing drugs to patients to treat ailments or reducing their morbidity may not be enough, even if the drugs were all indicated and in the right dose. Clinical pharmacists play a pivotal role in conducting information and instruction to patients and conveying feedback to treating physician when appropriate, and the final goal is in the interest of the patient. Identification and classification of drug related problems and discussing them with the health care providers. Prospective, interventional, clinical study for 180 hemodialysis patients, and was designed as two phases, an observational phase to identify drug related problems and classifying them according to the latest Pharmaceutical
... Show MoreBackground: Teachers are considered as dynamic force who take a pivotal position in any educational system. Since they may play a significant role in passing the preventive information and health promotion, it is important that their own oral health knowledge, attitude, and practices conform to the professional recommendations. The aim of this study was to evaluate oral health knowledge, attitude and practices among kindergarten teachers, and their impact on teachers’ oral health condition in Al-Rusafa Sector, Baghdad, Iraq. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional survey was conducted among 80 kindergarten teachers. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed among these teach¬ers. This questionnaire format contains two
... Show MoreBackground: diabetes is a metabolic disease characterized by hyperglycemia that results in deficiency or absence of insulin production. The dental caries and gingivitis/periodontitis are widespread chronic diseases in diabetes. The aim of the present study was determined the salivary matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-8), Secretory Leukocyte Peptidase Inhibitor (SLPI) and oral health status among uncontrolled diabetic group in comparison with healthy control group. Materials and Methods: The total sample composed of 90 adults aged (18-35) years. Divided into 60 uncontrolled diabetic patients (HbA1c >7%) and 30 healthy control group. Unstimulated saliva was collected from each subject with type-I DM, BMI, duration of diabetes, HbA1c%, DMFT, gingi
... Show MoreHuman resources are considered as strategic fortune for being the main driver of the development wheel in the society, and the field of education and learning is one of the main pillars of this fortune for its great effect in the process of economic and social progress of individuals. I was the subject of education to the concerns of many countries, as adopted national policies . And regional support and the reduction of constraints, so came our study (education hub for human development) to identify the role of education in human development and to identify the obstacles facing the education process and the extent of its impacts negatively on the process of human development also contribute to the knowledge of school enrollment and the
... Show MoreAn experiment was carried out in the vegetables field of Horticulture Department / College of Agriculture / Baghdad University , for the three seasons : spring and Autumn of 2005 , and spring of 2007 , to study the type of gene action in some traits of vegetative and flowery growth in summer squash crosses (4 x 3 = cross 1 , 3 x 7 = cross 2 , 3 x 4 = cross 3 , 3 x 5 = cross 4 , 5 x 1 = cross 5 , 5 x 2 = cross 6). The study followed generation mean analysis method which included to each cross (P1 , P2 , F1 , F2 , Bc1P1 , Bc1P2) , and those populations obtained by hybridization during the first and second seasons. Experimental comparison was performed in the second (Two crosses only) and third seasons , (four crosses) by using RCBD with three
... Show MoreThe experiment was aimed to evaluate a locally manufactured a dual-action device used for measuring feed pellets durability. The device performs dropping process in conventional devices, then sifting process to separate the pellets from the crumbles simultaneously, with a control the motor speed by using the pulse width modulation (PWM) Technique. The device performance was compared with the durability measuring device of a moving drop box. Rotational speed, diameter of the die holes of the machine was used in this study. The results showed that increasing the rotational speed of the die from 280 to 300 and to 320 rpm, increasing the die holes diameter from 3 to 4 and to 5 mm, led to
Globalization as phenomena has affected all aspects of life and reflected its impacts to the Arab world politically, economically, and culturally and became a vital field that related directly to our life. This field of searching needs as many studies and Academics as for employing the means that needed to face a national challenge which targeting the Arabic man Character in its ethics and values. This very important thing needs a very important reaction to face that challenge to protect the cultural ARABIC & ISLAMIC characteristics and to take care of education in all its levels and forms as it is an invincible fort. For that, this field has become as the priority of the studying and researches if the
... Show MoreSTAG proteins, which are part of the cohesin complex and encoded by the STAG genes, are known as Irr1/Scc3 in yeast and as SA/STAG/stromalin in mammals. There are more variants as there are alternate splice sites, maybe three open reading frames (ORFs) code for three main proteins, including: SA1 (STAG1), SA2 (STAG2) and SA3 (STAG3). The cohesin protein complex has various essential roles in eukaryotic cell biology. This study compared the expression of the STAG1 gene in four different breast cancer cell lines, including: MCF-7, T-47D, MDA-MB-468, and MDA-MB-231 and normal breast tissue. RNA was extracted from these cell lines and mRNA was converted to cDNA, and then expression of the STAG1 gene was quantified by three sets of specific prim
... Show MoreFinancial funding of a construction firm plays an important role in all aspects of the process development. It has been noted that financial crises have a direct impact on the construction industry. The Iraqi government, whether locally or globally, has faced a severe shortage of financing which has resulted in incomplete projects. Due to the financial crisis that Iraq went through which led to the suspension of many residential complex projects and the difficulty of the use of public financing methods, we researched the private financing (public-private partnership) methods instead of public financing methods in residential complex projects implementation. This study verified the financial problems and the factors that relate to th
... Show MoreThis study aims to evaluate the biocompatibility of a novel filler material intended to improve the longevity of polymer systems used in prosthetics in respect of cytotoxicity and skin irritation. RTV50F silicone elastomer incorporated with various percentages of hexagonal boron nitride (H-BN) (0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1 wt%) have been tested. Silicone without H-BN was utilized as the control for comparison. The in vitro cytotoxicity test includes specimens (n=18) with 10 mm in diameter and 2 mm in thickness applied directly to the normal human fibroblast cell line (NHF) and incubated for 72 hours, then 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to determine the cell viability. The skin irritati
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