Assessment of the Halal Status of Respiratory Pharmaceutical Products in a Hospital

AbstractRespiratory pharmaceutical products are among the most commonly used products in the hospital setting. However the halal status of these products is unknown and has never been investigated before. The objective of this study is to assess the status of these products at a hospital. Halal assessment was based on academic and other websites references. From 132 respiratory products that have been investigated, 11.4% are halal followed by 6.1% of them haram, 10.6% mushbooh and 72.0% are not known in terms of their halal status. All the haram medications are related to the presence of ethanol as the inactive ingredient. No information of inactive ingredients in medication leaflets is the most contributive factor leading to unknown halal status of the medications. In conclusion, cooperation between the government, pharmaceutical manufacturers, religious scholars and health care professionals is suggested in order to achieve a goal towards using halal medications

PREDICTORS OF GOOD GLYCEMIC CONTROL AMONG TYPE II DIABETES PATIENTS IN PALESTINE

  Objectives: The aim of this study is to assess glycemic control and its relationship with patient characteristics, health-care system factors, and self-care management in type II diabetes patients.Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted among 330 type II diabetes patients who met the inclusion criteria and whose medical records covered a period of 1 year. Data concerning patient characteristics, health-care system factors, self-care management, and available last reading of hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) were collected through personal interviews and a medical records' review using structured questionnaires and data collection forms. Good glycemic control was defined as HbA1c ≤7%. To assess the results, the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (version 16) was used to undertake descriptive, univariate, and multivariate analyses.Results: The mean±standard deviation age was 60±9.7 years. More than half of the participants were male (51.2%), and the majority had additional chronic diseases (88.5%). Of the total 271 participants whose HbA1c levels have been monitored, 16.7% had good glycemic control. Multivariate analysis showed that unemployment was significantly related to a decreased odds of good glycemic control (odds ratio=0.34; 95% confidence interval=0.12-0.98; p<0.05).Conclusion: The study noted that the proportion of patients with good glycemic control was low, a result comparable to studies from many countries. Further investigation and improvement of inappropriate health-care system factors and self-care management together with educational programs that emphasize the importance of self-care management and the health-care providers' role would be of great benefit in glycemic control

The SCIDOTS Project: Evidence of benefits of an integrated tobacco cessation intervention in tuberculosis care on treatment outcomes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is substantial evidence to support the association between tuberculosis (TB) and tobacco smoking and that the smoking-related immunological abnormalities in TB are reversible within six weeks of cessation. Therefore, connecting TB and tobacco cessation interventions may produce significant benefits and positively impact TB treatment outcomes. However, no study has extensively documented the evidence of benefits of such integration. SCIDOTS Project is a study from the context of a developing nation aimed to determine this.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An integrated TB-tobacco intervention was provided by trained TB directly observed therapy short-course (DOTS) providers at five chest clinics in Malaysia. The study was a prospective non-randomized controlled intervention using quasi-experimental design. Using Transtheoretical Model approach, 120 eligible participants who were current smokers at the time of TB diagnosis were assigned to either of two treatment groups: conventional TB DOTS plus smoking cessation intervention (integrated intervention or SCIDOTS group) or conventional TB DOTS alone (comparison or DOTS group). At baseline, newly diagnosed TB patients considering quitting smoking within the next 30 days were placed in the integrated intervention group, while those who were contemplating quitting were assigned to the comparison group. Eleven sessions of individualized cognitive behavioral therapy with or without nicotine replacement therapy were provided to each participant in the integrated intervention group. The impacts of the novel approach on biochemically validated smoking cessation and TB treatment outcomes were measured periodically as appropriate.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A linear effect on both 7-day point prevalence abstinence and continuous abstinence was observed over time in the intervention group. At the end of 6 months, patients who received the integrated intervention had significantly higher rate of success in quitting smoking when compared with those who received the conventional TB treatment alone (77.5% vs. 8.7%; p < 0.001). Furthermore, at the end of TB treatment (6 months or later), there were significantly higher rates of treatment default (15.2% vs. 2.5%; p = 0.019) and treatment failure (6.5% vs. 0%; p = 0.019) in the DOTS group than in the SCIDOTS group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study provides evidence that connecting TB-tobacco treatment strategy is significant among TB patients who are smokers. The findings suggest that the integrated approach may be beneficial and confer advantages on short-term outcomes and possibly on future lung health of TB patients who quit smoking. This study may have important implications on health policy and clinical practice related to TB management among tobacco users.</p

SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICE AMONG CONSUMERS IN SANA'A CITY

Objective: To determine the prevalence of self-medication practice and its associated risk factors in Sana'a City.Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out on consumers attending community pharmacies in Sana'a City. A self-administered questionnaire containing open-ended and closed-ended questions was developed and used for this study. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regressions were used in this study.Results: A total of 400 consumers were involved in this study. The prevalence of self-medication in the past six months was found to be 90.7 % (94.1% of females and 88.3% of males). In Multivariate analysis, chewing khat, smoking, availability of medical services near the residence and the perception about death due to self-medication were significant predictors of self-medication practice. Those who chewed khat were less likely to use self-medication compared to those who did not chew khat (OR= 0.296, CI 95% 0.100-0.882, p= 0.029). Similar results showed that smokers were less likely to use self-medication compared to non-smokers (OR= 0.429, CI 95% 0.206-0.895, p= 0.024). It was also found that those who have medical services near their residence were more likely to use self-medication compared to those who do not have medical services near their residence (OR= 3.022, CI 95% 1.384-6.596, p= 0.006). Moreover, those who did not believe that self-medication leads to death were more likely to use self-medication compared to those who believed that self-medication may leads to death (OR=2.645, CI 95% 1.232-5.681, p= 0.013).Conclusion: Self-medication practice was high among consumers in Sana'a City. Chewing khat, smoking, availability of medical services near the residence and the respondent perception about the possibility of death due to self-medication was significantly associated with self-medication

Guidelines Adherence and Hypertension Control in an Outpatient Cardiology Clinic in Malaysia

Purpose: To evaluate doctors' adherence to Malaysian Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) 2008 in established hypertensive patients with cardiovascular diseases and factors associated with guideline adherence and hypertension control in Pulau Pinang Hospital, Malaysia. Methods: Prescriptions written by 13 doctors for 320 established hypertensive patients with cardiovascular diseases (25 patients per doctor) were noted on first visit. Two hundred and sixty (81%) of the enrolled 320 patients (20 patients per doctor) were followed up until the second visit. Blood pressure (BP) noted on the second visit was related to the prescription written on the first visit. Results: One hundred and ninety one (73.5%) patients received guidelines-compliant pharmacotherapy. CPG adherence had statistically significant association with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (Φ =-0.241, p < 0.01) and diabetes (Φ =-0.228, p < 0.01). One hundred and fifty four (59.2 %) patients were on goal BP. Hypertension control had statistically significant association with guidelines compliance (Φ = 0.175, p < 0.01), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (Φ = 0.195, p < 0.01), diabetes (Φ = -0.148, p = 0.017), LVH (Φ = -0.153, p = 0.017) and monotherapy (Φ = - 0.168, p < 0.01). Conclusion: Prescribing practices were fairly compliant with guidelines. Doctors poorly adhered to guidelines in hypertensive patients with diabetes and LVH. Significantly better hypertension control was seen in patients who were on ACE inhibitors and guidelines-adherent therapy