Psychometric properties and assessment of the Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale among the general Arabic population

Mohanad Naji Sahib Faculty of Pharmacy, Al-Rafidain University College, Baghdad, Iraq Background: Any educational program should be implemented with a good understanding of the population’s beliefs. Therefore, the aims of this study were to validate the Arabic version of the Osteoporosis Health Belief Scale (OHBS-A) and assess the osteoprotective attitude among the Iraqi population. Methods: A cross-sectional design, with a random cluster sampling method from the community, was used. The forward–backward–forward translation method was used to translate the questionnaire from English to Arabic. In addition, the Arabic version of Osteoporosis Knowledge Tool (OKT-A) and the Arabic version of Osteoporosis Self-Efficacy Scale (OSES-A) were used to assess the osteoprotective behaviors. Results: The results showed good face validity and reliability. The construct validity analysis showed seven factors that explain 72.82% of the variance. In addition, the results revealed a low health belief score (149.95±35.936) with only 36.67% of the study population found to have a high OHBS-A level. The results showed significant differences among employment status, marital status, and osteoporosis (OP) awareness groups in relation to total OHBS-A scores. In addition, there were significant associations between age groups and OP awareness with health belief levels. Moreover, both exercise and calcium intake subscales of the Osteoporosis Knowledge Tool (OKT) positively correlated with all OHBS-A subscales. Exercise and calcium intake subscales of Osteoporosis Self-Efficacy Scale (OSES) positively correlated with the perceived susceptibility and perceived barriers toward exercise and calcium intake. The binary logistic regression analysis showed that OKT levels, OSES levels, and age were predictors of OHBS-A levels. Conclusion: Besides cultural obstacles, an educational program for both genders and all age groups is important and should be tailored according to culture needs. Keywords: health belief, osteoporosis, osteoprotective behavio

Physician adherence to hypertension treatment guidelines and drug acquisition costs of antihypertensive drugs at the cardiac clinic: a pilot study

Shaymaa Abdalwahed Abdulameer1, Mohanad Naji Sahib1, Noorizan Abd Aziz1,2, Yahaya Hassan1,2, Hadeer Akram Abdul AlRazzaq1, Omar Ismail31School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia; 2Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), 42300 Puncak Alam, Selangor, Malaysia; 3Hospital Pulau Pinang, 10900, Penang, MalaysiaAbstract: Prescribing pattern surveys are one of the pharmacoepidemiological techniques that provide an unbiased picture of prescribing habits. Prescription surveys permit the identification of suboptimal prescribing patterns for further evaluation. The aims of this study were to determine the prescribing trend, adherence of the prescribers to the guideline, and the impact of drug expenditure on drug utilization at the cardiac clinic of Penang Hospital, Malaysia. This was a cross-sectional study. Demographic data of the patients, diagnoses and the drugs prescribed were recorded. The average drug acquisition costs (ADAC) were calculated for each antihypertensive drug class on a daily and annual basis. Adherence to the guideline was calculated as a percentage of the total number of patients. A total of 313 individuals fulfilled the inclusion criteria. The average age of the study population was 59.30 ± 10.35 years. The mean number of drugs per prescription in the study was 2.09 ± 0.78. There were no significant differences in the demographic data. Antihypertensive drugs were used in monotherapy and polytherapy in 20.8% and 79.2% of the patients, respectively. Adherence to the guideline regarding prescription occurred in 85.30% of the patients. The lowest priced drug class was diuretics and the highest was angiotensin-receptor blockers. In conclusion, the total adherence to the guideline was good; the adherence percentage only slightly decreased with a co-existing comorbidity (such as diabetes mellitus). The use of thiazide diuretics was encouraged because they are well tolerated and inexpensive, and perindopril was still prescribed for diabetic patients since it is relatively cheap (generic drug) and its daily dosage is beneficial.Keywords: prescribing pattern, adherence, antihypertensive, drug expenditur

Self-Assembling Nanoparticles Containing Dexamethasone as a Novel Therapy in Allergic Airways Inflammation

Nanocarriers can deliver a wide variety of drugs, target them to sites of interest, and protect them from degradation and inactivation by the body. They have the capacity to improve drug action and decrease undesirable systemic effects. We have previously developed a well-defined non-toxic PEG-dendritic block telodendrimer for successful delivery of chemotherapeutics agents and, in these studies, we apply this technology for therapeutic development in asthma. In these proof-of-concept experiments, we hypothesized that dexamethasone contained in self-assembling nanoparticles (Dex-NP) and delivered systemically would target the lung and decrease allergic lung inflammation and airways hyper-responsiveness to a greater degree than equivalent doses of dexamethasone (Dex) alone. We found that ovalbumin (Ova)-exposed mice treated with Dex-NP had significantly fewer total cells (2.78±0.44×10(5) (n = 18) vs. 5.98±1.3×10(5) (n = 13), P<0.05) and eosinophils (1.09±0.28×10(5) (n = 18) vs. 2.94±0.6×10(5) (n = 12), p<0.05) in the lung lavage than Ova-exposed mice alone. Also, lower levels of the inflammatory cytokines IL-4 (3.43±1.2 (n = 11) vs. 8.56±2.1 (n = 8) pg/ml, p<0.05) and MCP-1 (13.1±3.6 (n = 8) vs. 28.8±8.7 (n = 10) pg/ml, p<0.05) were found in lungs of the Dex-NP compared to control, and they were not lower in the Dex alone group. In addition, respiratory system resistance was lower in the Dex-NP compared to the other Ova-exposed groups suggesting a better therapeutic effect on airways hyperresponsiveness. Taken together, these findings from early-stage drug development studies suggest that the encapsulation and protection of anti-inflammatory agents such as corticosteroids in nanoparticle formulations can improve efficacy. Further development of novel drugs in nanoparticles is warranted to explore potential treatments for chronic inflammatory diseases such as asthma

Emerging Nanotechnology in Chronic Respiratory Diseases

A large population, including people of all age groups, is suffering from chronic respiratory diseases worldwide. Asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, occupational lung diseases, cystic fibrosis, etc. are the most common of these diseases and are noncurable with conventional and currently available therapies. Nanotechnology is emerging as a great therapeutic promise in different spheres including drug delivery systems and is becoming the technology of choice nowadays. The administration of drugs via inhalation helps in avoiding the first-pass metabolism by targeted delivery to the affected site. It has been observed that there is a huge diversity in nanotechnology being used in pulmonary diseases, and thus safety assessment is a challenging as well as important task. The present review focuses on some of the major emerging nanotechnologies for chronic pulmonary diseases and includes some of the latest studies in the field of nanomedicines