Background: While warfarin and direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) are used to manage thromboembolic events, they possess several features that impact adherence. Objective: To assess medication adherence and self-efficacy in patients receiving warfarin or DOAC treatment. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed at Ibn Al-Bitar Hospital in Baghdad from December 2022 to May 2023 on patients receiving either warfarin or DOACs. The Arabic version of the Adherence to Refills and Medications Scale (ARMS) questionnaire and the Self-Efficacy for Managing Chronic Disease 6-Item Scale (SES6C) questionnaire were used to assess adherence and self-efficacy. Results: 181 patients were enrolled in the study, of whom 56.9% received warfarin and 43.1% received DOACs. The mean ARMS score was 13.71, and 81.77% of the patients were adherent to anticoagulant therapy. There was a significant difference in adherence between the warfarin and DOAC groups. The mean SES6C score for the participants was 50.01. Patients in the DOAC group had significantly higher self-efficacy compared to those in the warfarin group. The adherence score correlated significantly with patients’ gender, education level, hospitalization and duration of anticoagulant use, while the SES6C score did not correlate with any of the independent variables. There was a significant negative correlation between self-efficacy scores and medication adherence scores. Conclusions: Patients receiving DOACs showed a higher self-efficacy to manage chronic diseases and lower medication adherence as compared to warfarin. Higher self-efficacy was associated with higher adherence to treatment.
Background: Coronary artery disease (CAD) is a major contributor to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Early-onset CAD, also known as PCAD, is a severe form of CAD associated with high mortality and a poor prognosis. Early diagnosis is crucial to reducing complications. While hsCRP is an established biomarker for CAD, kalirin is a potential novel biomarker due to its role in promoting smooth muscle proliferation and endothelial dysfunction. Objective: To evaluate the relationship between serum kalirin and hsCRP levels with the presence and severity of PCAD and to compare the diagnostic value of both biomarkers. Method: The study recruited 92 participants into two groups: the PCAD group (46) included patients with confirmed CAD by an
... Show MoreBackground: Oral SCC is a complex malignancy where environmental factors, viral infections and genetic alterations most likely interact, and thus give rise to the malignant condition. The HSP70 play a direct role in apoptosis inhibition by aligning the improved integrity of a cell’s proteins with the improved chances of that particular cell’s survival.P21 gene produces p21 protein which is a potent cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor that plays a significant role in carcinogenesis. The aims of the study were to evaluate and compare the immun-histochemical expression of the HSP70 and cell cycle protein p21in NOM, OED, and OSCC. Correlate both marker expressions with each other. Materials and methods: Forty six formalin-fixed, par
... Show MoreBackground: Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is one of the largest causes of mortality worldwide. Clopidogrel, antiplatelet drug, has been widely used for management of CAD. The current study aimed to investigate the effect of clopidogrel on the oxidative stress in CAD patients. Methods: One hundred CAD patients, who were followed-up for 5 days after receiving clopidogrel, and 50 healthy volunteers were included in this study. Parameters include catalase (CAT), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), total oxidant capacity (TOC), total protein, albumin, and globulins were determined before and after treatment with clopidogrel. Results: CAT, TAC, and Tp were significantly decreased (P<0.0001) in CAD patients compared to healthy control and
... Show MoreBackground: Most prevalent chronic liver disease in developed and developing nations is non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. From fatty liver, which often has benign, non-progressive clinical history, to non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, a more serious variant of fatty liver that can lead to cirrhosis and end-stage liver disease, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease encompasses broad spectrum of diseases. The gold standard for determining extent of hepatic fibrosis is still liver biopsy; however, number of noninvasive tests have been established to make diagnosis and assess effectiveness of treatment.
Objective: Aim of study was to assess effectiveness of the combination of fibroscan and
... Show MoreInterleukins (IL-2 and IL-4) are increased in asthmatics and were reported to induce resistance to steroid therapy in some patients who fail to get benefit from glucocorticoids when used in full dose and for long period of time. In this context, the present study was conducted on Iraqi patients to provide additional laboratory mean, beside the clinical diagnosis, for the decision whether the asthma is steroid sensitive or resistant by monitoring the level of immunoglobulins, complement proteins and interleukins among asthmatic patients (steroid sensitive or resistant) and the possible contribution of other factors like age, sex and environments in the development of steroid resistance. A total number of 55 asthmatics and 28 normal subjec
... Show MoreThis research involves design and simulation of GaussianFSK transmitter in UHF band using direct modulation of ΣΔ fractional-N synthesizer with the following specifications:
Frequency range (869.9– 900.4) MHz, data rate 150kbps, channel spacing (500 kHz), Switching time 1 µs, & phase noise @10 kHz = -85dBc.
New circuit techniques have been sought to allow increased integration of radio transmitters and receivers, along with new radio architectures that take advantage of such techniques. Characteristics such as low power operation, small size, and low cost have become the dominant design criteria by which these systems are judged.
A direct modulation by ΣΔ fractional-N synthesizer is proposed
... Show MoreBackground: Oral pyogenic granuloma (PG) is a clinicopathological entity that could develop due to the reaction to a variety of stimuli, such as low-grade local irritation, traumatic damage, and hormonal stimulation. There are two histopathological types of pyogenic granuloma; lobular type -capillary hemangioma (LCH) and non-lobular type; with PG,LCH has highly vascular, diffuse capillary growth while non- lobular variant mimicking granulation tissue with heavily inflammated stroma. The study aims were to review the clinical and histopathological spectrum of an oral pyogenic granuloma from different intraoral sites in order to avoid diagnostic pitfalls associated with similar morphological lesions and to determine
... Show MoreThe study aims to find out the extent to which several Iraqi institutional accreditation standards (governance and administration, scientific research, curricula) are applied in two public universities (Baghdad and Middle Technical University) and two private universities (Uruk and Al-Mansour College) by diagnosing strengths and weaknesses and proposing a mechanism and procedures to help educational institution aims to reduce or eliminate the gap. The study stems from the extent of application of several Iraqi institutional accreditation standards represented as it was worked on through observation and field coexistence to reach scientific and practical facts. The method of case study and comparison betwe
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