METHODS: The study is completed in two phases. In phase I a cross-sectional study is performed using two quantitative research designs, i.e., exploratory and descriptive, to evaluate the knowledge of private pharmacy staff. The sample of 218 pharmacies was selected. While in phase II cross sectional survey is conducted in 10 facilities from where FDC anti TB drugs were sampled for analyzing their quality.
RESULT: Results revealed the presence of pharmacists only at 11.5% of pharmacies. Approximately 81% of staff at pharmacies had no awareness of MDR-TB, while 89% of pharmacies had no TB-related informative materials. The staff identified that most of the patients with TB (70%) were of poor socio-economic class, which restricted their purchase of four FDCs only up to 2-3 months. Only 23% were acquainted with the Pakistan National TB Program (NTP). Except for MDR-TB, the results showed a significant correlation between the experiences of staff with TB awareness. Findings from the quality evaluation of four FDC-TB drugs indicated that the dissolution and content assay of rifampicin were not according to the specifications, and overall, 30% of samples failed to comply with specifications. However, the other quality attributes were within the limits.
CONCLUSION: In light of the data, it can be concluded that private pharmacies could be crucial to the effective management of NTP through the timely identification of patients with TB, appropriate disease and therapy-related education and counseling, and proper storage and stock maintenance.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital at Lalitpur, from January to March 2021 using stratified random sampling. An online questionnaire was circulated to the selected Healthcare professionals. Median Antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship policy scores were calculated and compared among different subgroups. Previous engagement with Antimicrobial resistance and antimicrobial stewardship policies programs was also noted. Descriptive statistics, Mann Whitney, and Kruskal Wallis tests were used for data analysis.
RESULTS: The response rate was 89.3% (202/226). Antimicrobial resistance was regarded as a serious problem in the Nepali community by participants with work experience of 1-5 years, 87 (75.6%, p=0.029), and female participants, 62 (45.5%, p<0.001). Most physicians, females, and participants with working experience 1-5 years believed inappropriate use of antibiotics can harm patients and is professionally unethical. Physicians supported the availability of local antimicrobial guidelines and protocols. The median scores for Antimicrobial resistance (p<0.001) and Antimicrobial resistance eradication (p=0.048) differed according to age groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare professionals believed Antimicrobial resistance was an important issue. Antibiotic guidelines developed should be strictly implemented. Healthcare professionals also believed inappropriate use of antibiotics can harm patients and is professionally unethical.
OBJECTIVE: This study, therefore, identified any potential associations between knee OA symptoms and urinary incontinence and further explore sex differences in the associations.
DESIGN: Cross-sectional study.
SETTING: University Hospital.
PARTICIPANTS: This was a cross-sectional study from a longitudinal research study comprising 1221 community-dwelling older persons (57% women), mean age (SD) 68.95 (7.49) years.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Presence of urinary incontinence: mixed, stress and urge symptoms. Physical performance and C-reactive protein levels were also assessed.
RESULTS: Two hundred and seventy-seven (22.83%) individuals reported the presence of urinary incontinence: mixed (41.5%), stress (30%), and urge (28.5%) symptoms. In an unadjusted analysis, stratified by gender, the association between knee pain and urinary incontinence was only present in women with mixed symptoms. After further adjustment of demographics differences and body mass index, the association between knee pain with any urinary incontinence and mixed symptoms remained significant with the odds ratios (95% confidence interval): 1.48 (1.02-2.15) and 1.73 (1.06-2.83), respectively. This relationship was attenuated after further adjustment for waist circumference and impaired lower limb mobility.
CONCLUSION: Our study refutes previous assumptions that urinary incontinence in individuals with OA is attributed to impaired mobility alone, but introduces the role of abdominal obesity in this relationship, particularly in women. Future studies should assess the temporal relationship between body fat distribution and OA with urinary incontinence.
METHODS: A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire was developed. The questionnaire contained 8 questions designed to collect qualitative data on the factors affecting the stress, satisfaction and fulfilment in the professional and personal lives of early career pharmacists (ECPs). Questionnaire responses were analysed using a qualitative content analysis approach and themes describing influential factors were developed.
KEY FINDINGS: Some of the factors that contribute to the stress, satisfaction and fulfilment of ECPs were identified. The stressors identified include the workplace environment and relationships with colleagues, the demands of a pharmacist career, the lack of career advancement pathways, job insecurity, relationships and their weaknesses. Factors contributing to satisfaction and fulfilment included supportive work environments and relationships, being appreciated and making a difference, growth, supportive relationships and self-care.
CONCLUSIONS: Supporting the well-being of ECPs is important for a resilient, engaged and effective pharmacy workforce. Key interventions include eliminating job insecurity, establishing clear career pathways, improving work environments and relationships and investing in the development of clinical, technical, communication and managerial skills.
AIM: This study aimed at exploring the correlates of dental visits of children with hearing loss (CWHL) in Indonesia using the theory of planned behaviour (TPB).
DESIGN: This cross-sectional study involved purposive sampling methods, conducted via an online survey administered to mothers of CWHL who were aged 5-12 years. Constructs of the TPB model were collected, including the mother's attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behaviour control (PBC) and intention towards dental visits for CWHL. Dental visits were measured by asking whether their children had a dental visit within the last 12 months. Data were analysed using SPSS for descriptive and bivariate analyses. The significance level was set as p .05). Intention did not significantly predict the mother's behaviour towards children's dental visits (p > .05).
CONCLUSION: The TPB model revealed a construct associated with dental visit intention and behaviour in CWHL. This study suggested that effective promotion intervention should focus on the mother's PBC to increase parents' adherence to preventive dental visits in CWHL in Indonesia.
METHODS: A literature search of four electronic databases identified epidemiological studies published on tinnitus and different exposures. Independent raters screened all studies, extracted data, and evaluated study quality using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. Reported relative risks (RR), hazard ratios (HR), odds ratios (OR), and prevalence ratios (PR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to compute crude estimates of RR for tinnitus risk factors.
RESULTS: From 2389 records identified, a total of 374 articles were read as full text (24 reviews, 301 cross-sectional studies, 42 cohort studies, and 7 case-control studies). However, from 49 case-control and cohort studies, only 25 adequately reported risk ratios. Using the findings from these studies, positive causal associations were found for various hearing-related factors (i.e., unspecified hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss, occupational noise exposure, ototoxic platinum therapy, and otitis media). Evidence was also found for a number of non-otological risk factors including temporo-mandibular joint disorder, depression, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hyperlipidemia. Negative associations indicating preventative effects were found for diabetes and high alcohol consumption. No associations were found for low alcohol consumption, body mass index, head injury, heart failure, hypertension, leisure noise exposure, migraine, rheumatoid arthritis, sex, smoking, stroke, and whiplash. However, with the exception of unspecified hearing loss, these findings resulted from pooling no more than 4 studies, illustrating that the vast majority of the associations still remain inconclusive.
CONCLUSIONS: These systematic review and meta-analysis confirm a number of otological and non-otological risk factors for tinnitus. By highlighting major gaps in knowledge, our synthesis can help provide direction for future research that will shed light on the pathophysiology, improve management strategies, and inform more effective preventions.
STUDY DESIGN: The study design is a cross-sectional self-report study conducted across 42 countries.
METHODS: A cross-sectional, self-report study was conducted in 42 countries, with a total of 82,243 participants included in the final data set.
RESULTS: The study provides an overview of suicide ideation rates across 42 countries and confirms the structural validity of the P4 screener. The findings indicated that sexual and gender minority individuals exhibited higher rates of suicidal ideation. The P4 screener showed adequate reliability, convergence, and discriminant validity, and a cutoff score of 1 is recommended to identify individuals at risk of suicidal behavior.
CONCLUSIONS: The study supports the reliability and validity of the P4 suicide screener across 42 diverse countries, highlighting the importance of using a cross-cultural suicide risk assessment to standardize the identification of high-risk individuals and tailoring culturally sensitive suicide prevention strategies.
METHODS: Among 186 participants (M/F = 51/135; aged 22.1 ± 5.0), psychometrics were assessed using Power of Food Scale (PFS), Brief Self-Control Scale, CD Questionnaire (CD-Quest), and WHO-5 Well-being Index. Blood pressures, anthropometrics and body compositions were also measured using standard methods and bioimpedance.
RESULTS: Men had significantly higher well-being, but lower overall self-control, impulsivity and Food Available hedonic hunger. Those with moderate/severe CD had higher odds ratio (OR) of having high central adiposity, compared with those with absent/slight CD (OR: 2.52;95% CI: 1.14, 5.61; p = 0.023 for WC and OR: 2.50; 95% CI: 1.19, 5.23; p = 0.015 for WHR). Higher CD and PFS scores were strongly significantly correlated with higher systolic blood pressure (SBP), WC, WHR, WHtR, BMI, TBF, SF, VFL and RM. Lower self-control was weakly correlated with higher WC, while lower impulsivity and restraint were weakly correlated with higher VFL. Those who were overweight, obese, and in high TBF class had significantly higher PFS Aggregate Factor scores. Food Available and Food Present scores, but not Food Tasted, were also significantly higher among overweight participants.
CONCLUSIONS: Higher hedonic hunger and CD were associated with higher SBP and all adiposity measures. Overweight participants had higher hedonic hunger in the context of ready availability and physical presence of highly palatable foods. Lower self-control was weakly correlated with higher central adiposity; lower impulsivity and restraint were weakly correlated with higher visceral adiposity. These findings have provided some insights into the cognitive factors underlying adiposity.