10 research outputs found
Patterns of prescribing and utilization of asthma medications in a tertiary hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Purpose: To assess the prescribing patterns of asthma medications in a hospital in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE) with regard to the demographic pattern of the population.Methods: One hundred fifty four patients, 83 male and 71 female, were randomly selected from the outpatient respiratory diseases clinic of a tertiary hospital in Dubai, UAE over a 3-month period. Patients were asked to complete a structured questionnaire and data were analyzed using STATA 12 software.Results: Most of the patients were within the age range of 0 – 10 years. About 86 % of the patients were overweight. Half of the patients were non-smokers while 51 % of them had a family history of asthma. About 54 % of the patients received multiple drug therapy of which two-drug combinations were widely prescribed (31 %). The most utilized drug classes were short acting β-agonists (42 %), xanthine drugs (16 %), leukotriene modifiers (14 %) and oral and intravenous corticosteroids (13 %). Statistical significant differences among the age groups (F = 2.33, p = 0.0275) were found.Conclusion: Primary prevention to reduce the level of exposure to common risk factors for asthma would be a vital step to control the disease. More resources should be channeled into educating physicians and patients on rational drug utilization to improve the quality of patients’ care.Keywords: Asthma, utilization of medicines, β-agonists, Xanthines, Leukotriene modifiers, Rational drug utilizatio
Professional practices and perception towards rational use of medicines according to WHO methodology in United Arab Emirates
Inappropriate prescribing reduces the quality of
medical care and leads to a waste of resources. No
study has been reported concerning rational drug
use in United Arab Emirates, UAE, recently.
Objectives: 1. assessing patterns of use and
defining problems regarding the rational drug use.
2. Setting baseline situational analysis study for
practices in the health care system relevant to drug
use.
Method: A descriptive pilot study, consisting of
pharmacists, physicians and patients (100 of each
of category) from four private hospitals, (12) medical
clinics, (80) community pharmacies in addition to
150 prescriptions. A questionnaire of three sections
was designed to include WHO indicators regarding
patients, facility and prescribing patterns that are
relevant to rational drug use was carried out in four
emirates of the UAE in the period December 2008-
Febreuary 2009.
Results: Consultation and dispensing times were 10
(SD=2.75) min and 68 (SD=9.7) seconds,
respectively. Average no. of drugs per prescription
was (2.9 + 0.97), % of prescriptions using generic
name (7.35%), % of antibiotic containing
prescriptions (31.1%), % of injection containing
prescriptions (2.9%), adherence to Standard
Treatment Protocols (46%), adherence to the
essential drug list (64%), patient´s knowledge of
correct dosage (55%), adequately labeled drugs
(45%), patient´s information (65%).
Conclusions: Several areas of deficiency in rational
drug use had been defined in the private sector
through UAE that can be remedied through
adopting several strategies such as adherence to
national standard treatment guidelines and essential
drug list based on treatments of choice, interaction
between health care system and providing drugs
information to consumers.La prescripción inapropiada reduce la calidad de la
atención médica y lleva a un desperdicio de
recursos. No se ha escrito ningún estudio sobre el
uso racional de medicamentos en los Emiratos
Árabes Unidos (EAU) recientemente.
Objetivos: 1, evaluar los patrones de uso y definir
problemas en el uso racional de medicamentos. 2,
establecer la situación de base para el estudio de
prácticas en el sistema sanitario relevantes al uso de
medicamentos.
Métodos: Estudio piloto descriptivo, incluyendo
farmacéuticos, médicos y pacientes (100 de cada
categoría) de 4 hospitales privados, (12) consultas
médicas, (80) farmacias comunitarias además de
150 prescriptores. Se diseñó un cuestionario de tres
secciones incluyendo los indicadores de la OMS
relativos a pacientes, local y patrones de
prescripción relevantes al uso racional de
medicamentos para los cuatro emiratos de EAU en
el periodo de diciembre 2008 a febrero 2009.
Resultados: los tiempos de consulta y dispensación
fueron e 10 (SD=2,75) minutos y 68 (SD=9,7)
segundos respectivamente. La media de
medicamentos por receta fue de 2,9 (SD=0,97), el
7,35% de las recetas usaban nombres genéricos, el
31,1% contenía antibióticos, el 2,9% contenía
inyectables, el 46% cumplía los protocolos estándar
de tratamiento, el 64% contenía medicamentos de
la lista de medicamentos esenciales, en el 55%
había conocimiento de los pacientes de la dosis
correcta, en el 45 hubo etiquetado adecuado de los
medicamentos, y en el 65% hubo información a los
pacientes.
Conclusiones: Se identificaron varias deficiencias
en cuento al uso racional de medicamentos en el
sector privado en los EAU que pueden remediarse
adoptando algunas estrategias como el
cumplimiento de las guías de estándares nacionales
tratamientos y la lista de medicamentos esenciales
para la elección de tratamientos, la interacción entre
el sistema sanitario y los proveedores de
información sobre de medicamentos a los
consumidores
Development and evaluation of Ibuprofen transdermal gel formulations
Purpose: To develop an ibuprofen transdermal gel with a capability for
both topical and systemic drug delivery. Methods: Ibuprofen gel
formulations, incorporating various permeation enhancers, were prepared
using chitosan as a gelling agent. The formulations were examined for
their in vitro characteristics including viscosity, pH and drug release
as well as in vivo pharmacological activities. Carrageenan-induced rat
paw oedema model was used for the evaluation of their analgesic and
anti-inflammatory activities. A commercial ibuprofen gel product
(Ibutop® ) was used as a reference. Results: The formulations
containing 5 % of either menthol or glycerol as permeation enhancers
gave drug release patterns comparable to that of the reference product.
Propanol increased the apparent viscosity of the test gels to the same
extent as that of the reference. Drug release from the formulations
fitted best to the Higuchi model. A significant in vivo analgesic
effect was produced by the test formulations containing 5 % menthol and
20 % propylene glycol and the effect was superior to that obtained with
the reference product. However, no significant anti-inflammatory
activity was exerted by any of the test gel formulations (p > 0.05).
Conclusion: Ibuprofen gel preparations containing 5 % menthol and 20 %
propylene glycol, respectively, exhibited pronounced analgesic activity
and could be further developed for topical and systemic delivery of
ibuprofen
Staphylococcal Enterotoxins and Toxic Shock Syndrome Toxin-1 and Their Association among Bacteremic and Infective Endocarditis Patients in Egypt
Purpose. Infective endocarditis (IE) is a major complication in patients with bacteremia of Staphylococcus (S.) aureus infection. Our aim was to determine the association of the major Staphylococcal superantigens (SAgs), including Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) and toxic shock syndrome toxin-1 (TSST-1), among hospitalized patients diagnosed with bacteremia and those with IE. Methods. This study was conducted on 88 patients; of these, 84 (95.5%) had two positive blood cultures. Eighteen out of the 84 patients (21.4%) were diagnosed based on the modified Duke criteria by a cardiologist to have IE. The recovered isolates were screened phenotypically using ELISA followed by molecular analysis of sea, seb, sec, sed, see, and tsst-1, the major SAg coding genes, and the obtained findings were statistically analyzed. Results. Phenotypic screening for SE production of 26 selected Staphylococci (15 isolated from the IE patients (10 S. aureus and 5 coagulase negative staphylococci (CoNS)) and 11 from bacteremic patients (10 S. aureus and 1 CoNS)) using ELISA revealed that 12/26 (46%) isolates were SE producers. PCR analysis showed that 19 (73%) isolates were PCR positive for SAg genes with the highest prevalence of the sea gene (79%), followed by seb (63%) and tsst-1 (21%). The least frequent gene was sed (5.3%). Statistical correlations between bacteremic and IE isolates with respect to prevalence of SAgs showed no significant difference (P value = 0.139, effect size=0.572) indicating no specific association between any of the detected SAgs and IE. Conclusion. There is high prevalence of SEs among clinical isolates of Staphylococci recovered from patients suffering bacteremia and those with IE. No significant difference was found among Staphylococcal isolates recovered from patients with bacteremia or IE regarding both phenotypic and genotypic detection of the tested SAgs
Olive Leaf Extract Attenuates Chlorpyrifos-Induced Neuro- and Reproductive Toxicity in Male Albino Rats
Chlorpyrifos (CPF) is a common organophosphorus insecticide. It is associated with negative consequences such as neurotoxicity and reproductive injury. This study aimed to observe the ability of olive leaf extract to attenuate chlorpyrifos toxicity, which induced neuro- and reproductive toxicity in male albino rats. Olive leaf extract (OLE) exhibits potent antioxidant and antiapoptotic properties. Twenty-two mature male rats were divided into four groups: control (saline), CPF (9 mg/kg), OLE (150 mg/kg), and CPF + OLE. Treatment was administered orally for 80 days. The CPF significantly reduced serum sex hormones, sperm counts and motility, high oxidants (MDA), and depleted antioxidants (GSH, SOD, TAC) in the brain and testes homogenate; additionally, it decreased serum AChE and brain neurotransmitters, increased Bax, decreased Bcl-2, and boosted caspase-3 immune expression in neural and testicular cells. Immunological expression of Ki 67 in the cerebrum, cerebellum, choroid plexus, and hippocampus was reduced, and α-SMA in testicular tissue also decreased. Histopathological findings were consistent with the above impacts. OLE co-administration significantly normalized all these abnormalities. OLE showed significant protection against neural and reproductive damage caused by CPF
Maternal, fetal, and neonatal outcomes among different types of hypertensive disorders associating pregnancy needing intensive care management
Twelve myxosporean species of the family Myxobolidae infecting freshwater fishes of the River Nile, Egypt, with the description of four novel species
Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis
Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US 73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was 75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially
Global economic burden of unmet surgical need for appendicitis
Background There is a substantial gap in provision of adequate surgical care in many low- and middle-income countries. This study aimed to identify the economic burden of unmet surgical need for the common condition of appendicitis. Methods Data on the incidence of appendicitis from 170 countries and two different approaches were used to estimate numbers of patients who do not receive surgery: as a fixed proportion of the total unmet surgical need per country (approach 1); and based on country income status (approach 2). Indirect costs with current levels of access and local quality, and those if quality were at the standards of high-income countries, were estimated. A human capital approach was applied, focusing on the economic burden resulting from premature death and absenteeism. Results Excess mortality was 4185 per 100 000 cases of appendicitis using approach 1 and 3448 per 100 000 using approach 2. The economic burden of continuing current levels of access and local quality was US 73 141 million using approach 2. The economic burden of not providing surgical care to the standards of high-income countries was 75 666 million using approach 2. The largest share of these costs resulted from premature death (97.7 per cent) and lack of access (97.0 per cent) in contrast to lack of quality. Conclusion For a comparatively non-complex emergency condition such as appendicitis, increasing access to care should be prioritized. Although improving quality of care should not be neglected, increasing provision of care at current standards could reduce societal costs substantially