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Fulltext Journal of Young Pharmacists: Now published with Elsevier

Parasuraman S

J Young Pharm, 2013 Mar;5(1):1-2.
PMID: 24023443 DOI: 10.1016/j.jyp.2013.02.002
Fulltext An evaluation of consumers' perceptions regarding "modern medicines" in penang, malaysia

Babar ZU, Hassali MA, Shyong TL, Hin TK, Cien CS, Bin LS, et al.

J Young Pharm, 2012 Apr;4(2):108-13.
PMID: 22754263 DOI: 10.4103/0975-1483.96625

The objective of this study was to evaluate consumers' perceptions regarding "modern medicines" in Penang, Malaysia. To conduct this exploratory study, qualitative techniques were used. Consumers more than 19 years of age and could speak English, who had visited a pharmacy in the last 30 days, were included from the four major areas of Penang. Eighteen interviews were conducted until the point of saturation. The interviews were audio-taped and then transcribed verbatim for thematic content analysis. Many consumers correctly identified the major characteristics and properties of modern medicines; however, others raised doubts regarding the safety, quality and efficacy of "modern medicines". There were many misconceptions such as "all modern medicines can cause dependence", traditional medicines are completely "free of side-effects" and "Western medicines cure while Chinese medicines don't". Color was also considered a strong determinant of the safety and characteristics of a medicine. Regarding consumers' "medicine information seeking behavior", many consumers would seek information from doctors and pharmacists; however, there were others, who would look for books, or get it from the internet and friends. Of concern many consumers emphasized that while "self-searching for drug information" they would only look for side-effects. Misconceptions regarding medicine-taking behavior, medicine use and compliance were also identified. Though several consumers complied with the medicine-taking instructions, many reported that they would stop taking medicines, once they feel better. Though many consumers correctly identified the characteristics of "modern medicines", misconceptions regarding "medicine information sources and "medicine-taking behavior" were rampant. The situation demands corrective actions including community-oriented educational campaigns to improve "medicine use" in the society.
Fulltext Drug attitude and adherence: a qualitative insight of patients with hypertension

Saleem F, Hassali M, Shafie A, Atif M

J Young Pharm, 2012 Apr;4(2):101-7.
PMID: 22754262 DOI: 10.4103/0975-1483.96624

The study is aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of hypertensive patients toward medication use and adherence. The study was qualitative in nature conducted at Sandamen Provisional Hospital of Quetta city, Pakistan; a public hospital catering to the health needs of about 40% of the population. A qualitative approach was used to gain an in-depth knowledge of the issues. Sixteen patients were interviewed, and the saturation point was achieved after the 14(th) interview. All interviews were audio-taped, transcribed verbatim, and were then analyzed for thematic contents by the standard content analysis framework. Thematic content analysis yielded five major themes. (1) Perceived benefits and risks of medications, (2) physician's interaction with patients, (3) perception toward traditional remedies, (4) layman concept toward medications, and (5) beliefs toward hypertension and its control. The majority of the patients carried specific unrealistic beliefs regarding the long-term use of medication; yet these beliefs were heavily accepted and practiced by the society. The study indicated a number of key themes that can be used in changing the beliefs and experiences of hypertensive patients. Physician's attitude, patient's past experiences, and knowledge related to hypertension were noted as major contributing factors thus resulting in nonadherence to therapy prescribed.
Fulltext Patient-physician Communication Barrier: A Pilot Study Evaluating Patient Experiences

Khan T, Hassali M, Al-Haddad M

J Young Pharm, 2011 Jul;3(3):250-5.
PMID: 21897668 DOI: 10.4103/0975-1483.83778

This study aims to identify the patient-physician communication barriers in the primary healthcare setting in Pulau Penang, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was designed to attain the objectives of the study. A self-developed 17-item study tool was used to explore respondent's perception about the barriers they have faced while communicating with physician. The reliability scale was applied and internal consistency of the study tool was estimated on the basis of Cronbach's alpha (α = 0.58). The data analysis was conducted using statistical package for social sciences students SPSS 13(®). Chi Square test was used to test the difference between proportions. A total of n = 69 patients responded to this survey. A higher participation was seen by the male respondents, 39 (56.5%). About 52 (76.5%) of the respondents were satisfied with the information provided by the physician. In an effort to identify the patient-physician barriers, a poor understanding among the patients and physician was revealed. 16 (23.5%) respondents disclosed lack of satisfaction from the information provided to them. Overall, it is seen that lack of physician-patient understanding was the main reason that result hindrance in the affective communication. Moreover, there is a possibility that a low level of health literacy among the patients and inability of the physician to affectively listen to patients may be the other factors that result in a deficient communication.
Fulltext Development and validation of RP-HPLC-UV method for the determination of Glipizide in human plasma

Atif M, Khalid SH, Onn Kit GL, Sulaiman SA, Asif M, Chandersekaran A

J Young Pharm, 2013 Mar;5(1):26-9.
PMID: 24023449 DOI: 10.1016/j.jyp.2013.01.005

A simple, sensitive and selective HPLC method with UV detection for determination of Glipizide in human plasma was developed. Liquid-liquid extraction method was used to extract the drug from the plasma samples. Chromatographic separation of Glipizide was achieved using C18 column (ZORBAX ODS 4.6 × 150 mm). The mobile phase was comprised of 0.01 M potassium dihydrogen phosphate and acetonitrile (65:35, v/v) adjusted to pH 4.25 with glacial acetic acid. The analysis was run at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min with an injection volume was 20 μL. The detector was operated at 275 nm. The calibration curve was linear over a concentration range of 50-1600 ng/mL. Intra-day and inter-day precision and accuracy values were below 15%. The limit of quantification was 50 ng/mL and the mean recovery was above 98%. Freeze-thaw, short-term, long-term and post-preparative stability studies showed that Glipizide in plasma sample was stable. The method may be successfully applied to analyze the Glipizide concentration in plasma samples for bioavailability and bioequivalence studies.
Fulltext General Public Expectation from the Communication Process with their Healthcare Providers

Hassali M, Shafie A, Khan T

J Young Pharm, 2012 Jul;4(3):193-8.
PMID: 23112539 DOI: 10.4103/0975-1483.100028

The current study aimed to explore the public views and expectation about a successful communication process between the healthcare providers/physicians and patients in Penang Island, Malaysia. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Penang Island using a 14-item questionnaire. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 15.0(®) were used to analyze the collected data. A nonparametric statistics was applied; the Chi-square test was applied to measure the association among the variables. P-values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. A total of N (500) respondents have shown willingness to participate in the study with a response rate of 83.3%. The majority 319 (63.9%) have disclosed to communicate with their healthcare providers in the Malay language and about 401 (80.4%) of the respondents were found satisfied with the information provided by the physician. It was a common expectation by the most of the sample to focus more on the patient history before prescribing any medicine. Moreover, about 60.0% of the respondents expected that the healthcare providers must show patience to the patient's queries. The level of satisfaction with the information shared by the healthcare providers was higher among the respondents with a higher education level. Furthermore, patients with higher level of education expect that physician shouldwell understand their views and medical history to prescribe a better therapeutic regimen.
Fulltext A summary report of the workshop on the 'academic leadership training in the AIMST University, Malaysia'

Premkumar R, Bhore SJ

J Young Pharm, 2013 Jun;5(2):67-9.
PMID: 24023458 DOI: 10.1016/j.jyp.2013.04.001

In Malaysia, there are 81 (as on February 15, 2013) higher education institutions including satellite branches of the foreign universities. In northern part of the Peninsular Malaysia, AIMST University is the first private not-for-profit university and aims to become a premier private university in the country and the region. The workshop described in this article was designed to develop and enhance the capacity of academic staff-in-leadership-role for the University. This type of workshops may be a good method to enhance the leadership qualities of the head of each unit, department, school and faculty in each university.
Fulltext Reasons of using complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) among elderly Malaysians of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor states: An exploratory study

Mitha S, Nagarajan V, Babar MG, Siddiqui MJ, Jamshed SQ

J Young Pharm, 2013 Jun;5(2):50-3.
PMID: 24023454 DOI: 10.1016/j.jyp.2013.05.002

BACKGROUND: This study is aimed to explore the types of CAM and reasons of using CAM among elderly Malaysians.
METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 256 conveniently selected elderly Malaysians who were residing in the states of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur. A pre-validated interview-administered questionnaire was used to gather information. Data was entered into PASW version 18 and analyzed.
RESULTS: A total of 256 questionnaires were included in the study. A response rate of 64% was achieved. Out of 256 respondents, 92 (35.9%) were male while 164 (64.1%) were female. More than half of the respondents (n = 141; 55.1%) agreed that CAM is more effective than allopathic medicine. Chinese respondents showed strong belief in the effectiveness of CAM. In terms of safety of CAM, close to three quarters of respondents (n = 178; 69.5%) believed that CAM is safer than allopathic medicine. A large majority of respondents agreed that CAM has less side effects compared to allopathic medicine (n = 201; 78.5%) and also agreed that CAM is good to maintain overall health and wellbeing (n = 212; 82.8%). A majority of the respondents expressed that they use CAM because allopathic medicine is less effective (n = 113; 44.1%).
CONCLUSION: The current study reflects the reasons of using CAM among lay public from different ethnicities. There are no reports of adverse effects related to CAM use. Future approaches should be intended for awareness campaigns for consumers, highlighting safety profile of CAM and as well as forbidding their use without the consultation of healthcare professional.
Fulltext Simple and sensitive method for the analysis of ketorolac in human plasma using high-performance liquid chromatography

Muralidharan S, Jayaraja Kumar K, Parasuraman S

J Young Pharm, 2013 Sep;5(3):98-101.
PMID: 24396250 DOI: 10.1016/j.jyp.2013.06.007

To develop a simple and sensitive method of ketorolac in drug free human plasma using high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC).
Fulltext Solid-state characterization studies and effect of PEG 20000 and P90G on particle size reduction and stability of complexed glimepiride nanocrystals

Sajeev Kumar B, Saraswathi R, Dhanaraj SA

J Young Pharm, 2013 Sep;5(3):83-9.
PMID: 24396247 DOI: 10.1016/j.jyp.2013.08.002

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the present study is to formulate and characterize the properties of complexed glimepiride nanocrystals (GLP) by various techniques at different stages of its development, and to study the effect of PEG 20000 and P90G on particle size reduction and stability of nanocrystals.
METHOD: Precipitated (GLP-PEG) and complexed NCs (GLP-PEG-P90G) of glimepiride were characterized for particle size, size distribution, zeta potential and stability assessment using photon correlation spectroscopy (PCS). The crystallinity was analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray powder diffraction spectroscopy (XRPD). The surface morphology and chemical stability were assessed by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR).
RESULTS: A formulation with drug-polymer ratio of 1:1 was most ideal in developing stable NCs as it exhibited smaller particle size and high stability. A high zeta potential was observed in all NCs after complexation indicating improved stability. DSC and XRPD studies showed no change in crystallinity after complexation. SEM analysis of complexed NCs showed presence of spherical shape particles (size below 1 μm) with a lipid coat on the surface. Stability studies on optimized formulation (F1) revealed no change in particle size during 3-month period. FTIR studies prove that the chemical identity of GLP was preserved in the samples and the formulation was stable.
CONCLUSION: Solid-state characterization studies reveal that complexed GLP NCs are promising carriers for drug delivery and they can be safely and effectively used in design of various formulations. Also, PEG 20000 and P90G are excellent polymer and lipid for particle size reduction (nanonization) and stabilization of nanocrystals.
Fulltext Is there a need for a formulary of clinically interchangeable medicines to guide generic substitution in Saudi Arabia?

Alrasheedy AA, Hassali MA, Aljadhey H, Ibrahim MI, Al-Tamimi SK

J Young Pharm, 2013 Jun;5(2):73-5.
PMID: 24023460 DOI: 10.1016/j.jyp.2013.06.006

The escalating healthcare expenditure is a major challenge to sustainability of the healthcare systems. To confront the escalating health expenditure in general and medicines expenditure in particular, many countries promoted the use of generic medicines. To promote generic medicines, many countries have adopted a generic substitution (GS) policy and generic prescribing. To effectively implement the GS policy, it is evident in the literature that it is essential to have an evidence-based guide on therapeutic equivalence and formulary of interchangeable medicines to guide responsible GS. In Saudi Arabia, GS is permissive and pharmacists are given the right to perform GS. While the prescriber's approval is not a requirement, patient consent is required when performing GS. Although there are some general drug references, such as the Saudi National Formulary (SNF) and list of registered medicines in the Saudi market, but there is currently no information available to healthcare professionals that documents the therapeutic and bioequivalence between medicines. Thus, it is essential to have a formulary of interchangeable medicines to guide appropriate GS or at least to include such vital information regarding therapeutic equivalence and brand interchangeability as part of the SNF. That, in turn, will not only make healthcare professionals more confident when providing GS, but will also enable the avoidance of situations where GS is inappropriate.
Fulltext Diversity of endophytic bacteria in Malaysian plants as revealed by 16S rRNA encoding gene sequence based method of bacterial identification

Loh CY, Tan YY, Rohani R, Weber JF, Bhore SJ

J Young Pharm, 2013 Sep;5(3):95-7.
PMID: 24396249 DOI: 10.1016/j.jyp.2013.07.001

Bacterial endophytes do have several potential applications in pharmacy, medicine and agricultural biotech industry. The main objective of this study was to understand types of bacterial endophytes associated with dicotyledonous (dicot) and monocotyledonous (monocot) plant species. Isolation of the endophytic bacteria was performed using surface-sterilized various tissue samples, and identification of the endophytic bacterial isolates (EBIs) was completed using 16S rRNA encoding gene sequence similarity based method. In total, 996 EBIs were isolated and identified from 1055 samples of 31 monocot and 65 dicot plant species from Peninsular Malaysia. The 996 EBIs represented 71 different types of bacterial species. Twelve (12) out of 71 species are reported as endophytes for the first time. We conclude that diverse types of bacterial endophytes are associated with dicot and monocot plants, and could be useful in pharmacy, medicine and agricultural biotechnology for various potential applications.

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