An empirical study exploring the determinants of stress among medical healthcare professionals

Background: Medical profession is considered as one of the stressful professions. Work related stress level among the general working population is around 18% while the stress level among the healthcare practitioners is around 28%. Multiple stressors contribute to the stress of doctors resulting in negative consequences. Objective: The objective of the current study was to determine, categorize and to rank the existing stressors according to their significance for medical healthcare professionals in Pakistan. Method: A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 327 doctors. 47.2% were males while 52.8% were females. A structured questionnaire was developed and convenience sampling technique was applied to collect the data from the different positions of healthcare professionals. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed to categorize and to analyse the underlying structure of stressors. Finally, the stressors were ranked according to their significance. Results: Appropriateness of factor model was judged through Kaiser, Meyer and Olkin (KMO) index which was 0.905, and by Bartlett\u2019s Test of Sphericity which resulted significant (Approx. Chi- Square= 1111.529, Df =136, Sig.=0.000). Seventeen stressors were converted into four categories by factor analysis and were supported by both scree plot and eigen values. The variance explained by the first, second, third and fourth component was 20.89%, 19.09%, 16.33%, and 11.72% respectively. The 4 components cumulatively explained 68.03% of the total variability in the data, hence supported the extraction of 4 components. Conclusion: There are number of factors which enhance the stress of healthcare professionals. In Pakistan, the major stressor of medical healthcare professionals is \u201ccareer & reward prospects\u201d followed by \u201cworkplace environmental stressor\u201d. \u201cJob demand & performance stressor\u2019\u2019 ranks third among the list of stressors and \u201cinterpersonal stressor\u2019\u2019 ranks fourth according to significance for healthcare professionals

Response of patients of scabies to Topical Permethrin 5%and Treatment Failure

Objective:               This research was conducted to know response of patients of scabies to Topical permethrin and reasons for its treatment failure.Design:            This was observational type of study.Duration and Time:                              This study was conducted at Dermatology department Lahore General Hospital from 1st July 2017 to 31 december 2017.Method:            Every patient having persistent pruritic rash, aggravated at night and significant family history was included in our study. Written consent from each patient was obtained. Topical Permethrin lotion (5%) was provided to the patient and patients were asked to follow up 2 week after application of Permethrin lotion. On followup Patients were asked about improvement of prior symptoms and response to treatment was assessed. Factors leading to treatment failure were found out in non-respondents.Results:A total of 97 patients were included in our study. In 60(61.85%) patients symptoms had resolved and in 37(38.15%)  patients symptoms did not resolve after application of Permethrin lotion.Out of 37 patients, 17(45.94%) patients told that their close family contacts did not use the lotion, 12( 32.43%) patients did not follow environmental control measures, 5(13.51%) patients did not follow guidelines of applying topical permethrin , 3(8.10%)  patients showed no improvement in symptoms of scabies despite following all measures.Conclusion:Topical Permethrin (5%) is an excellent treatment option for scabies. However treatment of close contacts, environmental measures and Proper technique of Permethrin application is very important for the best results.

Response of patients of scabies to Topical Permethrin 5%and Treatment Failure

Objective:               This research was conducted to know response of patients of scabies to Topical permethrin and reasons for its treatment failure.Design:            This was observational type of study.Duration and Time:                              This study was conducted at Dermatology department Lahore General Hospital from 1st July 2017 to 31 december 2017.Method:            Every patient having persistent pruritic rash, aggravated at night and significant family history was included in our study. Written consent from each patient was obtained. Topical Permethrin lotion (5%) was provided to the patient and patients were asked to follow up 2 week after application of Permethrin lotion. On followup Patients were asked about improvement of prior symptoms and response to treatment was assessed. Factors leading to treatment failure were found out in non-respondents.Results:A total of 97 patients were included in our study. In 60(61.85%) patients symptoms had resolved and in 37(38.15%)  patients symptoms did not resolve after application of Permethrin lotion.Out of 37 patients, 17(45.94%) patients told that their close family contacts did not use the lotion, 12( 32.43%) patients did not follow environmental control measures, 5(13.51%) patients did not follow guidelines of applying topical permethrin , 3(8.10%)  patients showed no improvement in symptoms of scabies despite following all measures.Conclusion:Topical Permethrin (5%) is an excellent treatment option for scabies. However treatment of close contacts, environmental measures and Proper technique of Permethrin application is very important for the best results.

Effect of Growth Media, pH and Temperature on Yeast to Hyphal Transition in Candida albicans

The transition of C. albicans from unicellular yeast form to filamentous form i.e., pseudohyphae and hyphae is referred to as morphogenesis. C. albicans has the ability to respond to environmental conditions and accordingly changing its cell morphology. Three main morphological forms of C. albicans are unicellular yeast, pseudohyphae and hyphae. The effect of different growth media (Horse serum medium, RPMI-1640, MSGB), incubation temperatures (34˚C, 37˚C, 40˚C) and pH values (5.4, 6.4, 7.4) on germ tube production by C. albicans was evaluated. Horse serum medium noticeably promotes filamentation while RPMI-1640 medium shows moderate filamentation and MSGB media shows moderately low filamentation. The germ tube of C. albicans developed early in 1.5 hr at high temperature i.e., 40˚C. Incubation temperature of 37˚C was associated with highest germ tube formation while 34˚C shows low filamentation. A pH of 5.4 also induces low filamentation, pH 6.4 gives moderately lower than pH 7.4. A pH of 7.4 was best suited for germ tube induction. The peak of mycelium production appears between 1.5 and 6 hr after inoculation of C. albicans culture. These results suggested that environmental factors are important in selectively favoring yeast or hyphal form, most important being the growth medium, incubation temperature and external pH value

Urinary Tract infection in patients of Diabetes Mellitus

ABSTRACTObjective:This study was conducted to know the incidence of Urinary Tract Infection in the patients of diabetes mellitus.Place and time of study:                                           This study was conducted in Outdoor patient department of THQ Hospital Pattoki, Pakistan lasting from January 2018 to June 2018.Materials and Methods:                                       Every patient who had diabetes mellitus from last 3 years was included in our study. Patients were asked about asked about symptoms of UTI and fever on a preformed questionnaire. Urine samples were collected and then urine cultures were obtained. Informed Consent was obtained from every patient prior to inclusion in the study.Results:             A total of 376 patients were included in our study. The mean age was  49.32  + 2.2 with range from 36-60 years. 200 patients were male whereas 176 patients were female. 49(13.03%) patients had positive blood cultures. Out of 49 UTI patients , 30(61.22%) were asymptomatic whereas 19(26.54%) were having symptomatic UTI. Out of 49 UTI patients , 36(73.46%)  were female whereas 13(26.54%) were males. The most common organism isolated was E.Coli, in 32(65.30%) patients whereas rest of the patient cultures showed other species.Conclusions:                      Asymptomatic bacteriruia is very common and every known patient of diabetes mellitus must be screened for UTI periodically.Keywords:                  UTI ; Diabetes Mellitus; Urine culture ; E.Col

Positioning Depression as a Critical Factor in Creating a Toxic Workplace Environment for Diminishing Worker Productivity

This study determined how a toxic workplace environment can influence worker productivity, directly and indirectly, using work depression as a mediating variable. A toxic workplace environment with multiple dimensions (harassment, bullying, ostracism, and incivility) was used in this study. We used a questionnaire survey approach to evaluate the data. A total of 53 items were used in the questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. The data were collected from 23 branches of five Chinese banks in the vicinity of Shanghai. The authors distributed 250 questionnaires among targeted employees (senior managers, middle managers, and administrative staff) and received 186 filled questionnaires, among which six were incomplete. Thus, the completed sample size of the research was 180, and the overall response rate was 72%. To estimate the proposed relationships in the research model, we used partial least-squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM 3.2). The outcomes of this study indicate that for direct and indirect relationships, a toxic workplace environment negatively influences worker productivity. Moreover, the outcomes of this study also show that work depression negatively impacts worker productivity. The study concludes with a discussion, limitations, and future research directions

AWARENESS AMONGST YOUTH ABOUT USE AND ABUSE OF STEROIDS IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN

Objective: Aim of present study was to analyze awareness regarding the use of steroids in the youth studying health sciences.  A descriptive, observational study was conducted from September to December 2017. Youth studying health sciences aged 21–25 years in Karachi were recruited for the study, among which (n=179) 50.99% were pharmacy students and (n=172) 49% were studying allied health sciences. Descriptive statistics (SPSS version 16.0) was used to analyze the results. Methods: Out of 400 questionnaires, the response rate was 87.75%. Majority students were knowledgeable about steroids and (72.64%) agreed that steroids should be sold as prescription only medicine in Pakistan (p= 0.00). Most of them n=147 (41.88%) had no idea about various modes of steroid abuse (p=0.00).Many participants (n= 109;31.05%) thought that steroids were found in toothpaste and dentifrices, cosmetics and ophthalmic preparations; n= 135 (38.46%) had no idea whether or not the steroids had interactions with opiates and cocaine, alcohol and benzodiazepines. Results: The perception was seen in n= 118 (33.61%) persons that nutritional alternative/supplements could be used to reduce steroid abuse; n= 79 (22.50%) used steroids for grooming upon prescription by medical practitioner. Allergic reactions were thought as the mild side effects of steroid use by n= 100 (28.24%) while n= 166 (47.29%) considered kidney and liver diseases as severe side effects of steroid use (p=0.00).   Conclusion: It is concluded that comprehensive information about the steroids was required by youth since they were studying health sciences. Some modifications in the curriculum have to be made for providing more information about substances like steroids to the health sciences students as steroids have a great impact not only physically but also psychologically. Peer Review History: Received 4 September 2018;   Revised 8 September; Accepted 12 September, Available online 15 September 2018 UJPR follows the most transparent and toughest ‘Advanced OPEN peer review’ system. The identity of the authors and, reviewers will be known to each other. This transparent process will help to eradicate any possible malicious/purposeful interference by any person (publishing staff, reviewer, editor, author, etc) during peer review. As a result of this unique system, all reviewers will get their due recognition and respect, once their names are published in the papers. We expect that, by publishing peer review reports with published papers, will be helpful to many authors for drafting their article according to the specifications. Auhors will remove any error of their article and they will improve their article(s) according to the previous reports displayed with published article(s). The main purpose of it is ‘to improve the quality of a candidate manuscript’. Our reviewers check the ‘strength and weakness of a manuscript honestly’. There will increase in the perfection, and transparency. Received file:        Reviewer's Comments: Average Peer review marks at initial stage: 5.5/10 Average Peer review marks at publication stage: 7.5/10 Reviewer(s) detail: Antonio José de Jesus Evangelista, Federal University of Ceará, UFC, Brazil, [email protected] Dr. Ali Abdullah Al-yahawi, Al-Razi university, Department of Pharmacy, Yemen, [email protected] Similar Articles: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY ON BENZODIAZIPINE (BZD) ABUSERS OF DHAKA CITY: A SOCIO-PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITION OF BANGLADESH ALCOHOL INFLUENCES AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR THAT INCREASES LIKELIHOOD OF INITIATING DATING VIOLENCE AMONG MALE YOUTH IN COLLEGES WITHIN WESTERN COUNTRIES: A SCOPING REVIE

IoT-Based COVID-19 Diagnosing and Monitoring Systems: A Survey

To date, the novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has infected millions and has caused the deaths of thousands of people around the world. At the moment, five antibodies, two from China, two from the U.S., and one from the UK, have already been widely utilized and numerous vaccines are under the trail process. In order to reach herd immunity, around 70% of the population would need to be inoculated. It may take several years to hinder the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Governments and concerned authorities have taken stringent measurements such as enforcing partial, complete, or smart lockdowns, building temporary medical facilities, advocating social distancing, and mandating masks in public as well as setting up awareness campaigns. Furthermore, there have been massive efforts in various research areas and a wide variety of tools, technologies and techniques have been explored and developed to combat the war against this pandemic. Interestingly, machine learning (ML) algorithms and internet of Things (IoTs) technology are the pioneers in this race. Up till now, several real-time and intelligent IoT-based COVID-19 diagnosing, and monitoring systems have been proposed to tackle the pandemic. In this article we have analyzed a wide range of IoTs technologies which can be used in diagnosing and monitoring the infected individuals and hotspot areas. Furthermore, we identify the challenges and also provide our vision about the future research on COVID-19

Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Pharmacy: An Overview of Innovations

Artificial Intelligence (AI) emerged as an intervention for data and number-related problems. This breakthrough has led to several technological advancements in virtually all fields from engineering to architecture, education, accounting, business, health, and so on. AI has come a long way in healthcare, having played significant roles in data and information storage and management – such as patient medical histories, medicine stocks, sale records, and so on; automated machines; software and computer applications like diagnostic tools such as MRI radiation technology, CT diagnosis and many more have all been created to aid and simplify healthcare measures. Inarguably, AI has revolutionized healthcare to be more effective and efficient and the pharmacy sector is not left out. During the past few years, a considerable amount of increasing interest in the uses of AI technology has been identified for analyzing as well as interpreting some important fields of pharmacy like drug discovery, dosage form designing, polypharmacology, and hospital pharmacy. Given the growing importance of AI, we wanted to create a comprehensive report which helps every practicing pharmacist understand the biggest breakthroughs which are assisted by the deployment of this field

Vector-Borne Disease and Climate Change

Many arthropod species are vectors of numerous diseases of humans and animals, which include ticks, fleas, sandflies, mosquitoes, triatomine bugs, and blackflies. The vector transmits bacteria, viruses, and protozoa from one host to another causing various diseases, such as dengue fever, West Nile Virus, Lyme disease, and malaria. They are scold-blooded animals and very sensitive to the fluctuation in climatic factors. Changing climate influences the survival, reproduction, abundance, and spatiotemporal distribution of vectors throughout the year and the rate of development and survival of pathogens within the vector-host. Climate change is among the prime factors that influence the survival, reproduction, distribution, and density of disease vectors