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Fulltext Review on the demographic and social impact of methadone-medication therapy on Malaysian patients

Manan MM, Ali SM, Khan MA, Jafarian S, Hameed MA

Pak J Pharm Sci, 2013 Jul;26(4):841-6.
PMID: 23811468

This study is an observational cross-sectional study aimed to examine the possible demographic and social characteristics of patients enrolled at the Methadone Maintenance Therapy Adherence Clinic (MMTAC) in Malaysia. Medical records from year 2009 - 2011 were Reviewed. Demographic, social characteristics and laboratory examinations such as age, gender, race, clinic attendances and urine analysis were recorded. Subjects were selected by means of convenient sampling but based on the specified inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data were analyzed by either Chi-square test, Fisher's exact test Mann-Whitney U-test, with the limit of significance was set at p < 0.05. Demographically, this study found that the ratio of Malays, Chinese and Indian enrolled to the MMTAC program is similar to the distribution of races in Malaysia. Their starting age for drug use was between 14-35 years and the age to enrolment between 30-58 years. Socially, many are unemployed, lowly educated and married. Most are drug users with a high percentage of HCV accompanied with impaired liver function. Retention rate was 87% but illicit drug use was at 57.50%. However, percentage of employment increased significantly after therapy. The study managed to identify several demographical and social distributions of patients attending the MMTAC. Although attendance rate was high, many were on illicit drug use. Nevertheless, employment rate improved significantly.
Study site: government methadone clinic in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia
Fulltext Content analysis of mobile health applications on diabetes mellitus

Izahar S, Lean QY, Hameed MA, Murugiah MK, Patel RP, Al-Worafi YM, et al.

Front Endocrinol (Lausanne), 2017;8:318.
PMID: 29230195 DOI: 10.3389/fendo.2017.00318

Diabetes self-management offers an opportunity to patients to be actively involved in managing their conditions and modifying lifestyle behaviors to attain positive health outcomes. With the unprecedented growth of mobile technology, smartphone plays a role in supporting diabetes self-management. Nonetheless, selecting appropriate mobile applications (apps) is challenging for patients. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate and compare the contents and features of mobile medical apps for diabetes self-management. Of 346 commercial apps, 16 (16%) and 19 (7.72%) of the diabetes apps found in Apple and Google Play stores, respectively, were included based on the selection criteria and individually scored for the availability of 8 main features of diabetes self-management. The apps supported self-management by offering features such as free installation, less than 50 MB space used, offline use, automated data entry, data export and sharing, educational tool, and advice. Of the 8 evaluated features, only 11 (31.4%) apps had a score of 5 whereas 7 (20%) apps scored the lowest, with a score of 3. The majority of apps were free, required no Internet connectivity to use and were less than 50 MB in size. Our findings showed that the design of diabetes mobile apps focused on reporting and setting reminders, rather than providing personalized education or therapeutic support. In the future, the design of apps could be improved to integrate patients' needs, usability for disease management, and lifestyle modifications.
Use of Medical Mobile Applications Among Hospital Pharmacists in Malaysia

Ming LC, Hameed MA, Lee DD, Apidi NA, Lai PSM, Hadi MA, et al.

Ther Innov Regul Sci, 2016 Jul;50(4):419-426.
PMID: 30227023 DOI: 10.1177/2168479015624732

BACKGROUND: Handheld computers (HHCs) such as smartphones and tablets are providing a variety of drug information (DI) applications to assist pharmacists' decision making in the clinical and hospital setting. However, little is known about the extent of their use among Malaysian pharmacists. The current study aimed to assess the use of electronic DI resources via HHCs by pharmacists in Malaysia. This study also aimed to investigate the pharmacists' perception toward the DI content and functions of mobile medical applications.
METHODS: A convenience sampling method was adopted to invite pharmacists (N = 450) working in various sectors such as hospitals, the drug approval authority, and academia to participate in this online survey. A 36-item questionnaire was administered, and data were summarized and presented using descriptive statistics.
RESULTS: The response rate to this survey was 49.8% (n = 224). Overall, 213 respondents (95.1%) were active HHCs users in their daily clinical practice. About 194 respondents (86.6%) disclosed that they often use HHCs for searching DI. Dosage recommendations (n = 198; 88.4%), adverse drug reactions (n = 153; 68.3%), and drug interactions (n = 146; 65.2%) were the most common DI retrieved. Meanwhile, general dosage recommendation, pediatric dosage recommendations and dosage recommendations for renal failure were ranked as the most important DI in mobile medical applications. Gaining access to the latest information on drugs and clinical practice were regarded as the most important functions of the mobile medical app.
CONCLUSIONS: The use of HHCs for DI among pharmacists in Malaysia was high. The use of locally produced DI sources is still low compared to overseas sources. The most popular applications used for drug-related medical information were Micromedex, followed by Lexicomp and Medscape.
Key Elements of Pharmacoinformatics for the Degrees of Bachelor and Master of Pharmacy

Zainal INA, Karim NAA, Soh YC, Suleiman AK, Khan TM, Hameed MA, et al.

Ther Innov Regul Sci, 2017 Jul;51(4):419-425.
PMID: 30227049 DOI: 10.1177/2168479017701977

The Internet and rapid development of technology has led to the application of pharmacoinformatic technologies in improving the efficiency of the medication use process. By integrating pharmacoinformatics in pharmacy education, a qualified workforce of pharmacists well trained in the perspective of both pharmacy practice and informatics for safe and positive health-related outcomes can be produced. This survey assessed the level of importance of the suggested topics for pharmacoinformatics courses for pharmacy bachelor's and master's degrees by giving a questionnaire to pharmacy lecturers in both public and private universities, and to pharmacists registered with the Ministry of Health, Malaysia. Briefly the study of pharmacoinformatics was classified into 5 major areas: Drug Information Services, Information Technology & Internet, Drug Formulary Management, Supply Chain Management, and Health Policy. The relative importance of all relevant topics were evaluated and reported. It was found that compared with the undergraduate level, master's degree had higher expectations, and thus a more in-depth pharmacoinformatics curriculum content. In addition, the experiential method of learning instead of formal lectures alone was used on pharmacy master's courses. The findings from this survey could serve as a guide to improve pharmacoinformatics curricula in order to produce pharmacists who can safely and effectively utilize pharmacy informatics to disseminate information in drug use.