Materials and Methods: Study design was cross-sectional, in which sociodemographic data of respondents were collected through a validated questionnaire; results were analyzed by using validated data collection tool. The results were concluded on the basis of good, moderate, and poor response, which was evaluated through data analysis by the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20.0. A P < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant.
Results: Respondents were 182 (44.4%) males and 228 (55.6%) females; better knowledge was recognized among the females (P < 0.001) with mean knowledge of 15.55 ± 2.7. Chinese population had good knowledge with statistically strong correlation with mean knowledge of 15.63 (P = 0.006). Likewise, Buddhism was reported to have good knowledge among all the religions. Rural population was underlined with lesser family income and they showed good practice and understanding (P = 0.006). Comparatively positive attitude was noticed among the females (P < 0.001) with mean attitude of 15.55 ± 2.7. The highest level of education in this study was postgraduate, which showed 77.1% good attitude. Postgraduate participants were having varied results with standard deviation of ±6.23. Statistically highly significant association was seen between the religion and attitude of respondents with the P < 0.001. Chinese medicine is widely used, but religious difference was found among the races. Similar difference was found in knowledge and practice among the population of rural side and low family income compared to urban population with higher income and access to allopathic medicine.
Conclusions: Despite having better practice among the Malaysian population, still the knowledge needs to be disseminated among the population for the overall use of traditional Chinese medicine with safety to improve health and quality of life in Malaysia.
Materials and Methods: In two tertiary care selected hospitals, the included diabetic patients were randomly divided into two study arms. In the control group, 200 patients who were receiving usual treatment from hospitals were included. However, in the intervention group, those 200 patients who were receiving usual treatment along with counseling sessions from pharmacists under the Diabetes Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic (DMTAC) program were included. The study continued for 1 year, and there were four follow-up visits for both study arms. A prevalidated data collection form was used to measure the improvement in predictors of diabetic foot in included patients. Data were analyzed by using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software program, version 24.0.
Results: With the average decrease of 1.97% of HbA1c values in the control group and 3.43% in the intervention group, the univariate and multivariate analysis showed a statistically significant difference between both of the study arms in the improvement of predictors belonging to the diabetic foot (P < 0.05). The proportion of patients without any signs and symptoms of the diabetic foot in the intervention group was 91.7%, which increased from 42.3% at baseline (P < 0.05). However, this proportion in the control group was 76.9% at the fourth follow-up, from 48.3% at baseline (P < 0.05).
Conclusion: A statistically significant reduction in the signs and symptoms of diabetic foot was observed in the intervention group at the end of 1 year. The progression of diabetic foot was significantly decreased in the pharmacist intervention group.
Materials and Methods: Dried root of P. glabra was extracted under reflux with methyl alcohol, fractionated through the vacuum liquid chromatography technique, and evaporated and then purified the compounds using column chromatography and preparative thin-layer chromatography. THP-1 cells were treated with amentoflavone, 5,7,4'-hydroxyflavonoid, and stigmasterol with various concentrations (0-30 µg/mL) and then incubated with MTS reagent for 2h. Treatment was done for 24, 48, and 72h. Then, effects of these compounds were also tested on PGE2, TNF-α, and IL-6 expression in human THP-1-derived macrophage cells for 24h.
Results: Three new compounds such as amentoflavone, 5,7,4'-hydroxyflavonoid, and stigmasterol were isolated. After 24h of incubation, a significant decrease in cell viability was reported with IC50 values of amentoflavone, 5,7,4'- hydroxyflavonoid, and stigmasterol (21 µg/mL ≡ 38 M), (18 µg/mL ≡ 66 M) and (20 µg/mL ≡ 48.5 M), respectively. Whereas for 48 and 72h treatment showed a less decreased cell viability compared with 24h treatment. These compounds also showed a significant reduction in the production of TNF-α, IL-6, and PGE2 in a dose-dependent manner.
Conclusions: The isolated new compounds showed significant cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effects.
Methodology: Diabetic patients were randomly selected and divided into two groups from two tertiary care hospitals. Control group contained those 200 patients who were receiving usual treatment from hospitals. In contrast, the intervention group included those 200 patients who were receiving conventional treatment from hospitals together with separate counselling sessions with pharmacists from Diabetes Medication Therapy Adherence Clinic departments. The study continued for 1 year and two follow-up visits for both groups. A prevalidated data collection form was used to measure the improvement in sign and symptoms and progression of diabetic complication in diabetic patients. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 24 was used to analyze the data.
Results: The average hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) values decreased up to 1.43% in the control group and 2.82% in the intervention group. The intervention group showed significant improvement in HbA1c between groups (P < 0.05). The results of univariate and multivariate regression analysis showed that a statistically significant (P < 0.001) improvement was observed in all the predictors of diabetic complications among in the intervention group when compared with the control group.
Conclusion: Statistically significant reduction in the sign and symptoms of diabetic complications was observed in the intervention group at the end of 1 year. The progression of diabetic neuropathy was significantly reduced in the pharmacist intervention group.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional design using a validated questionnaire was conducted nationwide among randomly selected Malaysian CPs. The questionnaire consisted of consisted of 32 questions with three sections. The Cronbach's alpha measure for the scale on awareness was 0.494 and 0.724 for the interaction between CPs and GPs. Descriptive statistics were reported. The Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney test, Kruskal-Wallis test, and post hoc analyses were applied at the alpha level of 0.05.
Results: Of the 127 CPs who filled out the responses, 57.5% (n = 73) mentioned that they rarely or never interacted with GPs. Many CPs (n = 106, 83.5%) were aware of their role in providing patient education, and 109 (85.8%) indicated that they could suggest nonprescription medicines to patients, whereas 88 respondents (69.3%) were aware that they could suggest alternative medicines. A total of 117 respondents (92.1%) indicated their willingness to perform selected screening tests and identify and prevent prescription errors. A considerable number of CPs (n = 76, 59.8%) were aware of their ability to design and regulate prescribed regimens, and 89 (70.1%) showed their willingness to monitor these regimens. The total average score of the CPs' awareness toward their roles in providing healthcare for the 16 activities/items and the value of the interaction mean score was 12.00 (±2.92), with a median score of 12.00 (interquartile range: 9.5-14.5).
Conclusions: Malaysian CPs are fully aware of their role in providing healthcare and pharmaceutical care. Though the majority of them were willing to provide extended services, they are often unable to perform these roles due to the lack of interprofessional collaboration, lack of time, and absence of remuneration for their extended services. Training programs, practice guidelines, and professional service fee may encourage CPs to perform more extended services.
Objective: The objective of the study is to determine the awareness, attitude, and practice and their predictors on the use of metformin for GDM among healthcare professionals in Malaysia.
Materials and Methods: This was a multicenter, cross-sectional study in three tertiary hospitals in Malaysia. Medical doctors and pharmacists working in several departments were invited to participate in a survey using self-administered questionnaires.
Results: From 350 questionnaires distributed, 225 were completed by medical doctors (43.1%), pharmacists (40.4%), and specialists (7.5%). Less than 30% of them were aware on the option of using metformin as one of the first-line agents in GDM. Education level, department, and profession were found to be associated with the awareness level (P = 0.016, P = 0.004, and P = 0.001, respectively). 70.2% of the respondents showed a positive attitude toward metformin use in GDM. Only 64 (28.4%) of the respondents have prescribed/dispensed metformin for GDM before, although more than half will consider doing so in the future. Having postgraduate qualifications increased the likelihood of having a good awareness (odds ratio [OR]: 2.44, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.23-4.85) and to consider prescribing/dispensing metformin for GDM patients (OR: 2.27, 95% CI 1.08-4.78).
Conclusion: Despite a positive attitude toward metformin use in GDM among healthcare professionals in Malaysia, their awareness level on this practice was low as they currently prefer the use of insulin over metformin.
Methodology: Bachelor of pharmacy students at Pokhara University, Nepal, were assessed for their baseline KAP on drug safety and related issues using a KAP questionnaire (Cronbach alpha 0.70) consisting of 25 questions. Students' baseline KAP was assessed and after that, they were grouped into either control (2nd and 4th year) or test (1st and 3rd year) groups. The later received the pharmacovigilance training in three 1-h sessions spread over 6 months at 0, 90, and 180 days; the sessions covered introduction to pharmacovigilance, theoretical aspects of pharmacovigilance, and adverse drug reaction reporting procedures. KAP scores and student feedback were analyzed at 5% significance level.
Results: A total of 124 students (control = 56 and test = 68) were studied. The median (interquartile ranges [IQRs]) of the baseline scores prior to grouping the students into control and test groups was 20 (18.25-21.00) for knowledge, 19.5 (18.00-21.00) for attitude/practice, and 39 (37.00-41.00) for the total score. Males (n = 81) had a slightly higher median score of 40 (37-42) than females (n = 43), who had a median score of 38 (36-41). The KAP score for the control group was 40 (38-42) at baseline, 42 (20-44) during first follow-up, 41.5 (40-44) during second follow-up, and 41 (39-44.5) during third follow-up. For the test group, upon intervention, the KAP scores improved from 39 (36.25-40.75) at baseline to 42 (39.50-44.00) at the 1st follow-up, 43 (41-45) at the 2nd follow-up, and 44 (42-45) at the 3rd follow-up (P < 0.001). The median feedback score (IQR) was 86 (81.5-90.0).
Conclusions: Pharmacy students had good attitude/practice scores and relatively poor knowledge scores at baseline, which improved postintervention. Student feedback about the module was positive.