Challenges and experiences in establishing a zonal pharmacovigilance centre at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University: A 10-month journey

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Drug used pattern by self-medication among the RT-PCR positive health workers in Dhaka city

Background: To date there is no effective treatment against COVID-19. Self-medication played one of the major modes of treatment among general population as well as the health workers during this pandemic. Studying the pattern of self-medication among the health care workers (HCWs) may indicate their knowledge and skills towards rational use of medicines. The aim of the study was to assess the pattern self-medication among the COVID-19 affected HCWs.Methods: This cross-sectional survey assessed the pattern of drug used by self-medication among the health workers who were RT-PCR positive in context to Bangladesh.Results: A total of 267 HCWs data were collected. Most of the HCWs were in middle age group between 31-40 years with the mean age of 32.2±5.2. Doctors (83.9%) enrolled five times more than the nurses (16.1%). Most of the HCWs (60.3%) commenced medications just after appearance of symptoms and 27.0% went for the RT-PCR testing. Only 3.7% went to health care facilities for treatment. More than sixty percent of the respondents took medication by themselves just after start the symptoms, 19 (33.7%) took advised from the specialists and attended at health facilities 2.6%. Most of the patients (42.7%) used azithromycin as antimicrobial agent. Paracetamol was the most used drug among the participants (78.65%) followed by antihistamines (67.79%). Average number of drugs used by patients 3.1% and percentage of antibiotics per patients 42.6%.Conclusions: The prescribing practice of antibiotics shows deviation from the standard recommendation. Awareness regarding essentials drug list should be needed.

Assessment of health-related quality of life of COVID-19 patients during follow-up

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the quality of life of individuals worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and its associated factors among COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital. Methods: This facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients who were discharged from medicine department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and did their first-month follow-up from April to September 2021. A validated Bengali version of International Quality of Life Assessment, Short form – 36 (SF-36) questionnaire was used to assess the HRQOL status. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done for identifying factors associated with low HRQOL. Result: Out of 225 patients, the mean (standard deviation) age was 36.9 (14.2) years and four in every ten patients were women. Out of eight subgroups, almost all scored averagely 79 out of 100. Older age, rural residence and severe to critical disease was reported as factors for low physical and mental component summary of SF-36. Conclusion: COVID-19 patients with older age, rural residence and having severe to critical disease condition need to be addressed critically as they have a higher chance of having low HRQOL status after COVID-19 infection

Socio-demographic and clinical profile of the COVID-19 positive cases among the patients attending in the fever clinic of a tertiary care hospital of Bangladesh

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) caused by the virus SARS CoV 2 is a major global health concern nowadays. Bangladesh is also confronting this highly transmissible disease with an exponentially rising number of cases across the country. This study was designed to observe the socio-demographic characteristics and clinical profile of COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh is still very scanty. In this cross-sectional observational study, a total of 662 COVID-19 positive patients were enrolled following selection criteria who attended the fever clinic at BSMMU. COVID-19 was found to be more prevalent in males as the male to female ratio was 2.5:1. The mean age was 37.50 ± 12.14. Most of them belong to the 31-40 year age group. Among the patients, 41.8% were obese. DM, hypertension and bronchial asthma are the most common comorbidities. The most frequent symptoms were fever 80.8%, cough 36%, anosmia 21.8% and runny nose 1.7%. Most of the patients sought healthcare for fever 77.6 %, cough 23.3 %, dysgeusia 13.3% and anosmia 21.7 %. About 86.6 % had no history of contact with positive cases. Most of them had been BCG vaccinated previously. BSMMU J 2021; 14(4): 114-12

Autologous serum eye drops for treatment of dry eye syndrome

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Assessment of health-related quality of life of COVID-19 patients during follow-up

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the quality of life of individuals worldwide. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and its associated factors among COVID-19 patients discharged from hospital. Methods: This facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted among laboratory confirmed COVID-19 patients who were discharged from medicine department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and did their first-month follow-up from April to September 2021. A validated Bengali version of International Quality of Life Assessment, Short form – 36 (SF-36) questionnaire was used to assess the HRQOL status. Univariate and multivariate analyses were done for identifying factors associated with low HRQOL. Result: Out of 225 patients, the mean (standard deviation) age was 36.9 (14.2) years and four in every ten patients were women. Out of eight subgroups, almost all scored averagely 79 out of 100. Older age, rural residence and severe to critical disease was reported as factors for low physical and mental component summary of SF-36. Conclusion: COVID-19 patients with older age, rural residence and having severe to critical disease condition need to be addressed critically as they have a higher chance of having low HRQOL status after COVID-19 infection. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Journal 2023;16(2): 91-9

Adherence with the standard treatment regimen for the treatment of COVID-19 patients in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University

The present study was conducted to evaluate the adherence to standard treatment regimen in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) for the treatment of corona virus disease 19 (COVID-19) patients. The study assessed the awareness of prescribers, adherence to treatment guidelines and reasons for non-adherence. A questionnaire survey was conducted followed by a retrospective and prospective medical review and in-depth interview. The study revealed that 79.9% of key prescribers are aware of treatment guidelines. Adherence was 28.4% in moderate cases and 53.3% in severe cases and difference was highly statistically significant (p<0.001). Adherence in moderate cases was highest in patients with hypertension (43.3%) and lowest in bronchial asthma (16.6%). Adherence in severe cases was highest with diabetes (80%) and lowest in bronchial asthma (20 %). In COVID-19 patients, the adherence was highest with International Guideline (96%), followed by institutional Guideline (74.6%) and National Guideline (23.5%). There is significant variation in extent of adherence in different age group of patients, co-morbidities and categories of guidelines. BSMMU J 2021; 14 (COVID -19 Supplement): 13-1