32 research outputs found
A prospective study on evaluation of clinical pharmacist's interventions regarding drug-related problems in intensive care unit
No full textEvaluation of attitudes of patients regarding vaccine hesitancy during COVID-19: community pharmacy setting
No full textBackground and Objective: Vaccine hesitancy leads to decreases in
vaccination rates and causes an increase in preventable epidemics and
diseases. The aim of this study is to evaluate the attitudes of patients
applying to a community pharmacy regarding vaccine hesitancy
during COVID-19.
Setting and Method: This study was conducted in one community
pharmacy for any reason between September and December 2021,
Istanbul, Turkey. The ‘‘Scale of Vaccine Hesitancy’’ (1) (consisted of
12-items) was applied to the patients face to face. Sociodemographic
characteristics of the patients were recorded. The results of the
questionnaire were calculated according to the scale guideline. The
higher score represents the higher vaccine hesitancy.
Main outcome measures: Scores obtained from the scale of vaccine
hesitancy and correlation of the scores with patients’ parameters such
as chronical diseases, Covid-19 disease and vaccination history.
Results: Of the 43 patients 90% were female. The mean age was 37.5.
Thirty-five percent of the participants had COVID-19 and 69.8% had
a family history of COVID-19. About 79.1% have had the COVID-19
vaccine and 76% of those were vaccinated with BioNTech and the
rest with Sinovac. The mean of the vaccine hesitancy score was
calculated as 27.4 (min 12-max 50). Vaccine hesitancy score was
higher for patients who were not vaccinated than who were vaccinated (41.0 vs 24.2; p \0.001). The vaccine hesitancy score was
higher in patients with chronic disease (28.1), in chronic medication
users (28.8), in those who had COVID-19 history (29.5), and those
with a family history of COVID-19 (28.2). Cronbach alpha value of
the scale is 0.846.
Conclusion: It was determined that unvaccinated patients had higher
vaccine hesitancy scores. In addition, vaccine hesitancy score was
higher in the patients with chronic disease and who had COVID-19. It
is very important to have a high rate of vaccination, especially in a
pandemic or life-threatening disease. Therefore, educating and
relieving patients can be an important step in overcoming this problem. As pharmacists, the closest position to patients, we have a great
responsibility in order to change the perspective on vaccination.
References: 1. Kılınc¸arslan MG, Sarıgu¨l B, Toraman C¸, S¸ ahin EM.
Development of valid and reliable Scale of Vaccine Hesitancy in
Turkish language. Konuralp Medical Journal. 2020;12(3):420–429.
doi: 10. 18521/ktd.693711
Disclosure of Interest: None Declared
Evaluation of awareness and knowledge of antibiotic use of patients applying to a community pharmacy
No full textBackground and Objective: Infectious diseases constitute a large
share of the diseases in the world. The use of irrational antimicrobial
treatments causes failure in the treatment and toxic side effects in the
patient.The aim of our study is to evaluate the knowledge level and
attitudes of the patients who applied to the community pharmacy with
an antibiotic prescription regarding the use of antibiotics.
Setting and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in
one community pharmacy in Istanbul (Turkey) between November
2021- February 2022. Each patient’s profile was recorded and a selfstructured questionnaire consisted 14 questions was administered to
the patients who applied to the pharmacy with an antibiotic prescription. The questionnaire, which was prepared by the researchers
on the basis of the relevant literature studies (1,2) and the answer
options were determined as ‘‘true, false, I do not know’’. The questionnaire results were scored according to the relevant articles. All
data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) version 13.
Main outcome measures: To evaluate the knowledge level and
attitudes of the patients regarding the use of antibiotics.
Results: Of the 39 patients 66.7% were female, and the mean age was
35.2 ± 1.6. Sixty-one percent of the patients were not working in any
job. The majority of the patients (79.5%) applied to the pharmacy
with the diagnosis of upper respiratory tract disease. The mean
awareness score of the patients regarding the use of antibiotics was
determined as 7.8 ± 0.4, and it was found to be higher in those who
were actively employed than in those who did not (8.8 ± 0.5 vs.
7.1 ± 0.4; p = 0.022). It was determined that 77% of the patients had
a moderate level of knowledge about antibiotics.
Conclusion: According to the results of the study, awareness, and
knowledge regarding the use of antibiotics were insufficient. Community pharmacists as specialist health professionals have a vital role
in the rational use of antibiotics via patient education and monitoring.
References: 1. Ling Oh A, Hassali MA, Al-Haddad MS, Syed
Sulaiman SA, Shafie AA, Awaisu A. Public knowledge and attitudes
towards antibiotic usage: a cross-sectional study among the general
public in the state of Penang, Malaysia. J Infect Dev Ctries.
2011;5(5):338–347. Published 2011 May 28. doi:10. 3855/jidc.1502
2. Zaidi SF, Baroom MW, Ibrahim Hanbashi A, et al. Cross-Sectional
Survey among General Population Regarding Knowledge and Attitude toward Antibiotic Usage in Western Saudi Arabia. Pharmacy
(Basel). 2021;9(2):98. Published 2021 May 1. doi:10.
3390/pharmacy9020098
Disclosure of Interest: None Declared
Effect of topical insulin on cutaneous wound healing in rats with or without acute diabetes
No full textBackground. Diabetes is a condition known even in its early stages to impair the normal course of wound healing, thus leading to chronic wounds. The role of insulin in the regulation of energy metabolism, protein synthesis, cell differentiation and growth suggests that this hormone could also play an essential role in regulation of wound healing. Aim. To determine the effects of topical insulin administration on wound healing in rats with or without acute diabetes. Methods. This study was conducted using four groups of male Sprague-Dawley rats: (i) nondiabetic rats receiving topical insulin (n = 7), (ii) nondiabetic rats receiving topical sterile water (n = 7), (iii) diabetic rats receiving topical insulin (n = 7) and (iv) diabetic rats receiving topical sterile water (n = 7). Wound healing was assessed by wound contraction rate, complete epithelialization time and histological results. Results. Topical insulin enhanced wound healing by shortening the time needed for complete epithelialization in both the nondiabetic and acute diabetic groups. The histological observations supported the planimetric results in both groups. Conclusions. This study revealed that topical insulin application to cutaneous wounds accelerates wound healing in rats with or without acute diabetes
The effect of exercise on urinary gamma-glutamyl transferase and protein levels of volleyball players
No full textAim. Postexercise proteinuria and increased urinary gamma-glutamyl transferase (GGT) levels can be indicative of exercise-induced renal damage. In the literature, there exists numerous studies on exercise-induced proteinuria; but studies investigating the effects of exercise on urinary GGT levels are quite few. We aimed to evaluate the effects of exercise on renal function, expressed through the exercise-induced differences in urinary GGT, creatinine and protein levels. Methods. The study was performed on 12 female and 12 male volleyball players of the same sports club. Urine samples collected before and 1 h after the exercise were analyzed for urinary GGT, creatinine and protein amounts. Results. No statistically significant difference was observed between pre- and postexercise urinary GGT levels (U/L and U/g creatinine) of female and male volleyball players (P>0.05). A significant exercise-induced increase in urinary protein excretion was observed for the male players, while a significant exercise-induced increase in urinary creatinine excretion was observed for the female players (P<0.05). When urinary GGT levels (U/L) were compared separately for setters and spikers, it was observed that female players had no significant difference, while male spikers had a statistically significant exercise-induced increase in the urinary GGT levels (U/L) (P<0.05). Conclusions. We suggest that the insignificance of the exercise-induced increases in the urinary parameters could be due to the relatively short-course of the exercise and the timing of postexercise urine collection. A comprehensive study performed on more subjects could yield results that are more significant
Tuberculosis Treatment Failure: Causes and Solutions
No full textThe article attempts to examine the main reasons why the treatment of tuberculosis is not always successful, and to propose possible solutions to address this failure. In the introductory section a brief review of tuberculosis epidemiology includes encouraging global progress over the past twenty years tempered by some ongoing areas of concern. The main reasons for treatment failure are thought to be drug resistance and non-adherence to therapy. The first major reason for treatment failure is resistance to anti-tuberculosis agents. The underlying causes of this drug resistance and the types of drug resistance that a practitioner may encounter, is briefly explained. One of the areas of concern mentioned above is the relatively high levels of multiple-drug resistance tuberculosis (MDR-TB) in Eastern Europe, former Soviet countries and in densely populated Asian countries. To this should be added the disturbing emergence of extensive drug resistance (XDR-TB). Successful treatment approaches in managing drug resistance and barriers to effective treatment outcomes are also concisely dealt with. The second foremost cause of treatment failure is non-adherence. In the opening section dealing with this topic, the terms adherence and non-adherence are defined; this is followed by a succinct section on how adherence can be evaluated and factors which can affect adherence, either positively or negatively. A slightly more expanded section deals with the important topic of how adherence to TB treatment can be improved by focusing on patient-centered strategies. Following this, the benefits of directly observed therapy (DOT) as a way of ensuring adherence is discussed, and an overview of the success of DOT programs is provided, both in terms of patients with drug sensitive and drug resistant tuberculosis. The pharmaco-economic implications of DOT strategies are also alluded to in a few words. In the final section, a number of possible solutions to prevent and overcome the problem of treatment failure is brought together is the form of a list of proposals. Most of these proposed solutions are already mentioned in the main body of the text
Opinions of the Syrian patients about the effect of language barriers on the quality of pharmacy services received and about the use of pictograms
No full textComparison of APACHE II, SAPS II, SAPS II expanded and GCS scoring systems in an intensive care unit in Turkey
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