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
The study aimed to examine the sensitivity to stress and its relation to positive mood among educational supervisors. The researcher used the descriptive approach as more an appropriate method for the current study. The sample is composed of (200) educational supervisor. To collect study data, two scales have been used: one scale to measure the sensitivity to stress and the other to measure the positive mood. The results indicated that a high level of sensitivity to stress with low level of positive mood among educational supervisors, sensitivity to stress showed significant differences among the sample regarding to major. There is no correlation between sensitivity to stress and positive mood, and finally, there are no significant diffe
... Show MoreEnd Stage Renal Disease is a well-known global public health problem. Maintenance hemodialysis is considered a life-saving treatment for patients with such disease. This treatment method that requires patients to be adherent to hemodialysis attendance, dietary and fluid recommendations as well as adherence to prescribed medications to ensure success. The aim of the current study was to assess adherence, perception, and counseling among hemodialysis patients to different modalities of treatment (fluid restriction, dietary recommendations, medications, and hemodialysis schedules). A cross-sectional study carried out on hemodialysis patients who attended to the dialysis centers at al- Karama teachi
... Show MoreThe aim of the present study is to evaluate the change in the levels of glucagon, GLP-1 and GPCR in diabetic patient's and diabetic with dyslipidemia as metabolic syndrome. The study included 75 male aged ranged (30-50) years and with BMI (25-29) kg/m2 which divided into three groups as follows: group one (G1): consist of 25 subjects as healthy control group. Group two (G2): consist of 25 patient's with diabetes mellitus and group three (G3): consist of 25 patient's with diabetic and dyslipidemia as metabolic syndrome. Serum was used in determination of FBG, lipid profile, insulin, glucagon, GLP-1 and GPCR. Whole blood was determination of HbA1c. The results revealed significant elevation in FBG and HbA1c in G2 and G3 comparing to G1. While
... Show MoreApplying the constructability concept in the construction industry has proven many benefits in different projects; however, this concept still lacks usage in Iraq. Therefore, it is important to encourage usage of the constructability concept in the construction industry in Iraq. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the factors that affect constructability in Iraq and then classify them according to their importance. A total of 37 factors were collected from an intensive literature review, and they were classified under the sub and main categories. A survey was undertaken in two sessions with open questionnaire and close questionnaire. The results were analysed and the mean
This study aims to apply the theory of "Text from Text and the Plus Dimension" in the analysis of the Prophetic discourse found in the section on the virtues of knowledge and scholars from Imam Sahih al-Bukhari's book. This section covers several topics, including the virtue of gathering for the sake of learning, the superiority of a scholar over a worshipper, the excellence of jurisprudence in the religion of Allah, the acquisition of knowledge through the passing away of scholars, the merit of inviting people to Allah, the continuing benefit of beneficial knowledge after a scholar's demise, the warning against seeking knowledge for purposes other than Allah, and the Prophet seeking refuge from knowledge tha
... Show MoreThe electronic properties (such as energy gap HOMO levels. LUMO levels, density of state and density of bonds in addition to spectroscopic properties like IR spectra, Raman spectra, force constant and reduced masses as a function of frequency) of coronene C24 and reduced graphene oxide C24OX , where x=1-5, were studied.. The methodology employed was Density Functional Theory (DFT) with Hybrid function B3LYP and 6-311G** basis sets. The energy gap was calculated for C24 to be 3.5 eV and for C24Ox was from 0.89 to 1.6862 eV for x=1-5 ,respectively. These energy gaps values are comparable to the measured gap of Graphene (1-2.2 eV). The spectroscopic properties were compared with experimental measurements, specificall
... Show MoreThe study aimed to prepare psychological measures of intellectual emptiness and mental distraction on university students. The two researchers used the descriptive approach in the two methods of surveying and correlational relations to suit the nature of the research, where the study sample consisted of (101) students of physical education and sports sciences. The phrase- Intellectual emptiness(35) and (34) is a phrase for mental distraction and presented it to experts in psychology, testing and measurement, and the statistical bag for social sciences (spss) was used, and the results of the research showed that intellectual emptiness has a moral relationship with straying among some students of the College of Physical Education
... Show MoreThe study aims to identify the metamemory and perceptual speed among College students, the correlation between metamemory and perceptual speed among College students, and to which extend does metamemory contribute to perceptual speed among College students. The sample consisted of group of students were selected randomly by the researcher from five-different disciplines at the college of education for pure sciences. To collect study data, the researcher utilized two scales: perceptual speed scale that has translated to Arabic language by (Al-Shraqawi, Al- Shaikh, and Nadia Abed Al-Salam (1993). The second scale is metamemory scale (2002) which has translated to Arabic by Abu Ghazal (2007). The results revealed that college students have
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