scholarly journals Dispensing Practices for Weight Management Products in Eastern Saudi Arabia: A Survey of Community Pharmacists

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (24) ◽  
pp. 13146
Author(s):  
Mahmoud E. Elrggal ◽  
Sarah Ibrahim Alamer ◽  
Saad A. Alkahtani ◽  
Mohammed Ahmed Alshrahili ◽  
Adnan Alharbi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Weight Loss ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Green Tea ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Obesity Prevalence ◽  
Time Duration ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Apple Cider

Due to changing lifestyles and socioeconomic status, obesity prevalence has been rising in Saudi Arabia, and community pharmacists often counsel patients about its management. The study aimed to evaluate practices of community pharmacists involved in dispensing products for weight control in four cities located in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted involving community pharmacists in Dammam, Dhahran, Khobar, and Al-Ahsa, using a Likert format questionnaire. Only those who consented to participate were handed the questionnaire. A total of 100 complete responses were analyzed. The median value for packs sold per month for tea containing products Al-Diafa Slimming Tea, Jamue Tea, and Green Tea was ≥6 while the same for orlistat and apple cider vinegar were ≤4. Moreover, >50% of pharmacists mentioned that orlistat and apple cider vinegar were effective while ≥35% mentioned that metformin and Jamue tea were effective. Furthermore, ≥25% mentioned that green tea and Al-Diafa slimming tea were effective. Excluding orlistat, >50% of pharmacists did not know about adverse effects for other products. The rate of dispensing of several weight loss products was significant for participants’ background characteristics, such as time duration of consultation, gender, and age of patients, and pharmacist work experience (p < 0.05). The tea products and orlistat were the most frequently sold products, and community pharmacists appeared most knowledgeable about the effectiveness and adverse effect of orlistat. The pharmacists seemed to be aware about the effectiveness of other weight loss products; however, their knowledge about their potential adverse effects was unsatisfactory.

scholarly journals The Use of Topical Clobetasol among the Women in Hail Region, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-sectional Study on Knowledge and Practice

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Mukhtar Ansari ◽  
Subish Palaian ◽  
Mohamed Izham Mohamed Ibrahim ◽  
Pathiyil Ravi Shankar
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Topical Steroid ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Face ◽  
Knowledge And Practice ◽  
Harmful Effects

Aims: The current study aimed to evaluate female consumers’ knowledge and practice about harmful effects of topical clobetasol applied on the face for cosmetic purposes.  Study Design: Cross-sectional study.  Place and Duration of Study: Randomly selected community pharmacies, well known cosmetic shops and shopping malls of Hail region, Saudi Arabia from March 2018 to June 2018. Methodology: We included 391 participants who only used ‘clobetasol’ as a topical steroid at the time of interview, responses were collected as per the study tool and analyzed using SPSS for Windows, Version 16.0. Chicago, SPSS Inc.. Results: Relatives (28.1%), friends (25.6%) and community pharmacists (15.6%) contributed significantly towards using topical clobetasol cream. In 86.2% of the cases, the pharmacists who dispensed clobetasol did not inform the consumer about the harmful effects. Purchasing the cream without prescription (P = 0.025) was significantly associated with age. In the study, 41.9 % of the females experienced adverse effects, with the commonest one being hair growth on face (23%) followed by dermatrophy (14.8%); with a significant association with frequency of use (p<0.001). Conclusion: There was haphazard use of topical clobetasol by females and they were unaware of the adverse effects. Over-the-counter availability of topical clobetasol, lack of knowledge about harmful effects, and lack of counseling on its safety profile by community pharmacists and other healthcare professionals are mainly responsible for its misuse and harmful consequences.

Knowledge, Attitude, Practice, and the Perceived Barriers with Respect to the Use of Herbal Medicines

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-35
Author(s):  
Mater H. Mahnashi
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Herbal Medicines ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Significant Degree ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Patient Centered ◽  
Cross Sectional

Community pharmacists are in an ideal position to counsel patients about herbal medicines. This study was designed to determine the knowledge, attitude, practice, and barriers about the herbal medicines among community pharmacists in Najran, Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted on a representative sample of 62 community pharmacists in Najran, Saudi Arabia, from June to September 2019. Majority of the participants were aged between 20 and 29 years, had a bachelor's degree, and work experience ranged between 1 and 5 years. Ginseng (54.8%) was the most regularly dispensed herb. The pharmacists held a significant degree of knowledge about the therapeutic uses with an average of 78.61% correct answers (P = 0.000), and the majority (63.54%) recognized correctly the possible adverse effects, drug-herb interactions, and contraindications related to herbal medicines (P = 0.000). The majority of the community pharmacists owned a positive attitude and showed good practices toward herbal medicine. The community pharmacists in the Najran region showed good knowledge, a positive attitude, and efficient practice toward herbal medicines. However, there is a demand for further training, continuing medical education, enhanced access to authentic sources of information, and stringent regulation and control of traditional drug stores to realize the achievement of patient-centered public health activities.

scholarly journals Healthcare Workers’ Perspectives on the Upcoming COVID-19 Vaccine in Terms of Their Exposure to the Influenza Vaccine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Vaccines ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (5) ◽  
pp. 465
Author(s):  
Leena R. Baghdadi ◽  
Shatha G. Alghaihb ◽  
Alanoud A. Abuhaimed ◽  
Dania M. Alkelabi ◽  
Rawan S. Alqahtani
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Influenza Vaccine ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Healthcare Workers ◽  
Seasonal Influenza ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Seasonal Influenza Vaccine ◽  
History Of

In 2019, a novel severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19)) caused a global pandemic. There was an urgent need to develop a vaccine against COVID-19 to reduce its spread and economic burden. The main objective of this study was to understand the attitudes and concerns of healthcare workers (HCWs) towards the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine, whether their decision was influenced by their history of taking the seasonal influenza vaccine, and factors that influence the acceptance of the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine. This was a cross-sectional study conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. We selected and surveyed 356 HCWs via an electronic self-administered questionnaire. A total of 61.16% of HCWs were willing to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, and 55.9% of them had received the seasonal influenza vaccine in the preceding year (2019–2020). The strongest predictors for taking the COVID-19 vaccine were the HCWs’ belief that the COVID-19 vaccine would be safe, needed even for healthy people, that all HCWs should be vaccinated against COVID-19, and that HCWs will have time to take the vaccine. Being female, being middle aged, having <5 years of work experience, having no fear of injections, and being a non-smoker were predictive factors for taking the upcoming COVID-19 vaccine. No associations were found between the intention to take the COVID-19 vaccine and a history of taking the seasonal influenza vaccine.

scholarly journals The Perceptions of Nurses and Nursing Students Regarding Family Involvement in the Care of Hospitalized Adult Patients

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-142
Author(s):  
Faygah M. Shibily ◽  
Nada S. Aljohani ◽  
Yara M. Aljefri ◽  
Aisha S. Almutairi ◽  
Wassaif Z. Almutairi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Nursing Students ◽  
Patient Care ◽  
Family Involvement ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Adult Patients ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Hospital System ◽  
Centered Care

Over the past few decades, there have been concerns regarding the humanization of healthcare and the involvement of family members in patients’ hospital care. The attitudes of hospitals toward welcoming families in this respect have improved. In Arab culture, the main core of society is considered to be the family, not the individual. The objective behind involving family in patient care is to meet patients’ support needs. Consequently, this involvement affects nurses and their attitudes toward the importance of family involvement in patient care. Objectives: To describe nurses’ and nursing students’ perceptions of family involvement in the care of hospitalized adult patients in Saudi Arabia. Design: This study used a quantitative descriptive cross-sectional design. The data were collected using a convenience sampling survey via social media. Results: A total of 270 participants (staff and students) took part in this study, including 232 (85.9%) females and 38 (14.1%) males. Moreover, a high percentage of participants (78.8%) acknowledged that family presence strongly affected the improvement of the patient’s condition. However, 69.3% of participants thought that involving family members during special care processes or cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) would be traumatizing for these individuals. Moreover, there was a significant diffidence between the attitudes of the nurses and nursing students toward family involvement and the number of years of employment (F = 3.60, p < 0.05). On the contrary, there were insignificant differences between the attitudes of the nurses and nursing students toward family involvement and their gender, nationality, age, education level, and years of work experience in Saudi Arabia (p > 0.05). Furthermore, the regression analysis showed a significant negative correlation between nurses’ years of employment and their support of family involvement in patient care (ß = −0.20, SE = 0.08, t = −2.70, p = 0.01). Conclusions: Nurses with more experience showed no support for family involvement in patient care. We have to consider the clinical barriers that affect nurses’ support for family involvement in patient-centered care, such as hospital polices, guidelines, and the model used for family-centered care integration in the hospital system to facilitate the interaction between healthcare providers and family members.

scholarly journals Community Pharmacists’ Practice, Awareness, and Beliefs about Drug Disposal in Saudi Arabia

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 823
Author(s):  
Sultan Alghadeer ◽  
Mohammed N. Al-Arifi
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Community Pharmacies ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Sectional Study ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Take Back ◽  
Medication Disposal

The awareness among Saudi people regarding the good and safe practice of drug disposal is fairly low. Community pharmacists’ potential toward drugs disposal directions and practice are not emphasized enough. Therefore, a cross sectional study was conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to evaluate the practice, awareness and beliefs of community pharmacists about disposal of unused drugs. Out of 360 subjects who participated in the study, more than 70% returned the unused drugs to the pharmaceutical distributors. Around 80% of the participants confirmed the risk of environmental damage due to the inappropriate disposal of drugs, and 87.5% of them held themselves responsible for preventing such risk. Approximately 85% of surveyed pharmacists believed community pharmacies to be an appropriate location for the collection of unused drugs. There was no significant association between the community pharmacists’ age group and years of practice as community pharmacists with either the awareness of unused medication disposal on environmental hazards, or the beliefs about the appropriate location for collecting unused drugs (p > 0.05). The awareness and proactive accountable responsibility, along with community pharmacists’ belief of appointing pharmacies to collect unused drugs, strongly support the institution of drug take-back programs.

scholarly journals Community Pharmacists’ Perceptions towards the Misuse and Abuse of Pregabalin: A Cross-Sectional Study from Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10) ◽  
pp. 1281
Author(s):  
Sultan M. Alshahrani ◽  
Khalid Orayj ◽  
Ali M. Alqahtani ◽  
Mubarak A. Algahtany
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Male Dominance ◽  
Community Pharmacies ◽  
First Line ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
First Line Therapy ◽  
Structured Questionnaire

Pregabalin is a first-line therapy for neuropathic pain and for chronic pain. It has abuse potential. This study was conducted to assess community pharmacists’ perceptions towards pregabalin abuse and misuse in the Aseer region, Saudi Arabia, and identify predictors and associated factors. A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire following a self-administrative study was conducted across community pharmacies in the Aseer region (Abha, Khamis Mushait, Mahayel, Sarat Abeeda, Ahad-Rufaida, and Bishah). A total of 206 respondents from community pharmacists participated in the study. Over the last six months, 136 respondents (66.0%) suspected pregabalin abuse in community pharmacies; male dominance in pregabalin abusers was also recorded (n = 165, 80.1%). Additionally, 40 (19.4%) respondents stated that a prescription was not issued for pregabalin demands. Over half (61.7%) of community pharmacists recorded an increased change in pregabalin abuse compared to the previous year. This is the first study to explore pharmacists’ perceptions in the community of the Aseer region towards customers’ misuse and abuse of pregabalin. Further monitoring and regulations on the prescribing and procurement of pregabalin are needed to avoid abuse.

Nonmental Healthcare Professionals’ Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services in Asir Region, KSA

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alsubaie SS ◽  
◽  
Al-Hufayyan RS ◽  
Mohammed MS ◽  
Alsufyani AH ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Mental Health Services ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Future Research ◽  
P Value ◽  
Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Asir Region

Objectives: Most patients who visit other clinics are surprised when they referred to psychiatric clinics, which may be related to the social stigma of mental illness or nonmental health professionals’ (NMHPs) negative attitude toward psychiatric illness. The study aimed to assess attitudes toward mental health services among NMHPs in Asir region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), and to correlate the results with different variables. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study among NMHPs (n=358) in Asir region of the kingdom of Saudi Arabia by using an electronic questionnaire through WhatsApp application. Results: Young age, female gender, single marital status, did not ever had known or shared in giving care to a mentally ill person, work experience less than 10 years, nursing specialty, and holding diploma degree represented the significant statistical correlation with negative attitudes toward mental health services scale (p-value = <0.001; 0.01; 0.003; 0.02; <0.001; 0.02 and <0.001, respectively). Conclusion: This study demonstrates positive attitude toward mental health services among NMHPs. There is need for better educational measures and more training courses at the undergraduate level of NMHPs in order to improve such attitude. Future research could investigate the outcomes of these measures and courses.

scholarly journals Patterns of 2,4-Dinitrophenol Use as Discussed on Social Media

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Chary ◽  
Karun Ellango ◽  
Michele Burns
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Weight Loss ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Therapeutic Index ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Online Forums ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Bulletin Boards ◽  
Sectional Analysis

ABSTRACTImportanceThe usage of social media is associated with worsening perceptions of body image and increasing access to, and use of, toxic weight loss supplements. Little is known about the effect of nonlethal doses of one mechanistically unique supplement, 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). DNP has been banned by the FDA making human studies difficult, but the public still consumes DNP leading to a gap in our knowledge on the effects of DNP. Here we use social media to investigate the use of DNP, providing the largest characterization of its usage to date.ObjectiveDetermine the doses of DNP generally consumed, adverse effects at those doses, and coingestants.DesignCross-sectional analysis of Internet posts.SettingOur study collected publicly available data from 2017–2018 from Internet discussion forums (also called bulletin boards) dedicated to the discussion of weight loss and body building.ParticipantsParticipants are anonymous posters on these Internet forums.Main MeasuresOur main measure was the distribution of reported doses of DNP consumed. Our secondary measure was the frequency of adverse effects reported at those doses.ResultsWe collected 661 posts across 5 online forums. The most commonly ingested dose reported was 150 mg (1-2 pills, depending on formulation), followed by 300 mg (2-3 pills). The most commonly reported adverse effects were sweating and a sensation of warmth, followed by yellow discoloration of secretions. The most common coingestants were antihistamines, cetirizine and loratadine.Conclusions and Relevance2,4-dinitrophenol is a mechanistically unique weight loss agent reported to be associated with sweating and a sensation of warmth at the most commonly reported ingested doses. Common co-ingestants are antihistamines, although itching was not directly reported as a side effect. Coingestion of an antihistamine, which can lessen the body’s ability to dissipate heat, could worsen the side effects of DNP. This is the first formal description derived from social media of DNP usage at nonlethal doses. Further investigation is needed to determine the therapeutic index of DNP. Less toxic derivatives may provide a starting point for pharmacological adjuncts to weight-loss.

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