Prevalence of nicotine dependence among university students in Jordan: a cross-sectional study

Tobacco epidemic is one of the biggest public health threats the world has ever encountered. The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of nicotine dependence among university students in Jordan and assess factors associated with this dependence.  A cross-sectional study using simple random sampling was conducted among university students from 3 public and 3 private universities selected for their convenience from central, middle, and east Jordan via administering a questionnaire between October 2016 and January 2017. The total number of participants was 892.  The overall nicotine dependence was 51.2%. Correlates to nicotine dependence were studying at an undergraduate level (OR=3.6; 95% CI: 1.4-8.1); studying humanities (OR=1.73; 95% CI: 1.2-2.1); existing of a smoking family member (OR=1.63; 95% CI: 1.5-1.9); starting smoking before age of 15 years (OR=1.60; 95% CI: 1.2-2.1); water pipe smoking (OR=1.48; 95% CI: 1.1-2.0); and studying at governmental universities (OR=1.36; 95% CI: 1.0-1.8).  Several socio-demographic characteristics had an impact on nicotine dependence. Future research is necessary to further improve our understanding of motives for smoking and dependence.&nbsp

Maternal health care utilization in rural Jordanian villages: Patterns and predictors

Background. Different individual (demographic) characteristic and health system related characteristics have been identified in the literature to contribute to different rates of maternal health care utilization in developing countries. This study is going to evaluate the individual and quality of health predictors of maternal health care utilization in rural Jordanian villages. Methods. Data from a 2004 survey was used. Individual (predisposing and enabling) variables, quality of health care variables, and maternal care utilization variables were selected for 477 women who had a live birth during the last 5 years. The conceptual framework used in this study will be the Aday-Andersen model for health services utilization. Results. 82.4% of women received at least one antenatal care visit. Individually, village of residence (p=0.036), parity (p=0.048), education (p=0.006), and health insurance (p=0.029) were found to be significant; in addition to respectful treatment (p=0.045) and clean facilities (p=0.001) were the only quality of health care factors found to be significant in predicting antenatal care use. Using logistic regression, living in southern villages (OR=4.7, p=0.01) and availability of transportation (sometimes OR=3.2, p=0.01 and never OR=2.4, p\u3c0.05) were the only two factors to influence maternal care use. Conclusions. Living in the South and transportation are major barriers to maternal care utilization in rural Jordan. Other important cultural factors of interest in some villages should be addressed in future research. Perceptions of women regarding quality of health services should be seriously taken into account

Knowledge and perceptions about colorectal cancer in Jordan

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cancer globally. In Jordan, it is the number one cancer among men and the second most common cancer among women, accounting for 15% and 9.4% respectively of all male and female diagnosed cancers. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and perceptions about colorectal cancer risk factors, signs and symptoms in Jordan and to provide useful data about the best modes of disseminating preventive messages about the disease. Materials and Methods: A stratified clustered random sampling technique was used to recruit 300 males and 300 females aged 30 to 65 years without a previous history of CRC from four governorates in Jordan. A semi-structured questionnaire and face to face interviews were employed. Descriptive and multivariate analysis was applied to assess knowledge and perceptions about CRC. Results: Both males and females perceived their CRC risk to be low. They had low knowledge scores about CRC with no significant gender association (P= 0.47). From a maximum knowledge score of 18 points, the median scores of males and females were 4 points (SD = 2.346, range 0-13) and 4 points (SD= 2.329, range 0-11) respectively. Better knowledge scores were associated with governorate, higher educational level, older age, higher income, having a chronic disease, having a family history of CRC, previously knowing someone who had CRC and their doctor's knowledge about their family history of CRC. Conclusions: There is a low level of knowledge about CRC and underestimation of risk among the study participants. This underlines the need for public health interventions to create awareness about the illness. It also calls for further research to assess the knowledge and perceptions about CRC early detection examinations in Jordan

Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Mandatory Premarital Screening Among University Students in North Jordan.

A mandatory National Premarital Thalassemia Screening Program was implemented in Jordan in 2004. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of university students in North Jordan toward this program. Data was collected from 542 students from four universities (two public and two private universities) located in North Jordan, using a structured questionnaire. Results of t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed that while respondents had adequate knowledge of and positive attitudes toward the premarital screening program, there was still a lack of knowledge about the disease itself. Nearly half the respondents were under the impression that β-thalassemia (β-thal) is a disease that can be treated simply. One-third of the respondents believed that if both partners were carriers of β-thal they should proceed with marriage. Negative attitude was revealed when many respondents believed that diagnosing a family member as a carrier affects other family members' future marriage opportunities. Significant associations were detected between the knowledge scores and gender, urban/rural residence, and the university where the students were enrolled. Students in private universities showed significantly lower attitude scores. Consideration of prenatal diagnostic services as part of a β-thal prevention program is necessary. It would also be helpful to include information about β-thal as a preventable inherited illness with a severe debilitating impact on the family in the high school curriculum. There is also a need for social marketing of the program

Pharmacist-perceived barriers to pharmaceutical care of chronic and end-stage kidney disease patients in Saudi Arabia

Objective: The aim of this study is to explore pharmacists' attitudes regarding pharmaceutical care in chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients. Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among Saudi pharmacists between October 2012 and October 2014. A convenient sampling technique was employed in the five Saudi Kingdom regions: Central, West, East, North, and South. The target sample was 200 pharmacists based on a calculation of the power of sample with an 85% confidence level. SPSS, version 20®, was used to descriptively analyze the data. The Kruskal–Wallis test was applied to highlight the significant responses. A P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Of the 200 questionnaires distributed, 162 were completed; a response rate 81.0%. Based on the results, pharmacists in Saudi generally had positive attitudes and beliefs toward pharmaceutical care in CKD and ESRD due to a complicated disease state with multiple drug and nondrug therapies (69.1%); this finding indicated that this type of pharmaceutical care requires that more time is dedicated to patients (69.7%). The results showed that 40.8% of pharmacists were familiar with National Kidney Foundation-Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative clinical practice guidelines. Most pharmacists either agreed or strongly agreed that implementing this type of pharmaceutical care will have a positive economic impact on patients' families and the health system. The physician–pharmacist relationship is also considered to be a major barrier for pharmacist intervention given that physicians have primary responsibility for modifying the patients' treatment plans. Conclusion: The contribution of pharmacists in CKD and ESRD will continue to grow as their clinical knowledge improves. Saudi pharmacists believe that the pharmaceutical care is an essential component of managing CKD and ESRD patients

Assessment of patient safety culture in two emergency departments in Australia: a cross sectional study

Purpose: Patient safety culture is a vital element to create patient safety in healthcare organisations. Emergency department (ED) professionals operate in unstable conditions that may pose risk to patient safety on day-to-day basis. The aim of this study was to assess the status of patient safety culture and to quantify the dimensions of safety culture in the ED setting. Design/methodology/approach: This was a descriptive cross sectional study that used a validated questionnaire distributed to the staff working in the nominated EDs. Perceptions on various dimensions of safety culture were reported and the frequency of positive responses for each dimension was calculated. Findings: “Teamwork” is the only dimension that rated positive by over 70% of participants. Other dimensions rated below 50%, except for “Organisational learning–continuous improvement” which rated 51.2%. Areas that rated the lowest were “Handover and transitions”, “Staffing”, “Non-punitive response to error” and “Frequency of event reporting” with average positive response rate of 15.4%, 26%, 26.8% and 27.6%, respectively. Originality/value: This study displayed a concerning perceptions held by participants about the deficiency of patient safety culture in their EDs. Moreover, it provided a baseline finding giving a clearer vision of the areas of patient safety culture that need improvement.</p

Vitamin D Levels in Children with Recurrent Acute Tonsillitis in Jordan: A Case-Control Study

Background: Vitamin D is essential for many functions of the body. In addition to its primary function of regulating the absorption of calcium in the small intestine, its role in the immune system has recently been studied. The current study aimed to test the impact of vitamin D deficiency on the rate of recurrent acute tonsillitis in children. Methods: According to Paradise criteria, two hundred forty-two children with recurrent acute tonsillitis were recruited. A group of healthy children (n = 262) was also recruited as controls. Poisson regression was run to predict the number of tonsillitis episodes per year based on vitamin D levels. The mean vitamin D level in the study group was lower than in the control group (p &lt; 0.0001). Poisson regression of the rate of recurrent tonsillitis and vitamin D level (OR = 0.969 (95% CI, 0.962&ndash;0.975)) showed that for every single unit increase in vitamin D level, there was a 3.1% decrease in the number of tonsillitis episodes per year (p &lt; 0.0001). Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with higher rates of recurrent acute tonsillitis. Future controlled trials should investigate the role of vitamin D supplementation in reducing the rate of recurrent tonsillitis