Factors that facilitate reporting of adverse drug reactions by pharmacists in Saudi Arabia.

Objectives: Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a pervasive global problem, and its management is integral to patient safety and healthcare quality. Pharmacists play a pivotal role in monitoring and reporting ADRs, which has a direct impact on patient care. The aim of this study was to identify potential factors that facilitate pharmacists in community and hospital settings to report ADRs. Methods: A cross-sectional, online survey using a validated questionnaire was administered to pharmacists working in community and hospital pharmacies in Saudi Arabia. Results: 1,717 community and 153 hospital pharmacists participated in this study. Only 10.2% and 26.8% of community and hospital pharmacists, respectively, admitted ever reporting an ADR. The most reported factors that may facilitate ADRs reporting have included ongoing improvements in therapeutic knowledge about ADRs, attending educational programs with continuous medical education credits, the seriousness of the experienced ADRs and accessibility to patients' medical profile. The impact of peers by seeing colleagues reporting ADRs and ADRs due to herbal or traditional medicine were the least important factors reported by pharmacists. Conclusion: The study identified factors that can effectively address the under-reporting of ADRs by pharmacists. A multi-stakeholder, multi-pronged approach of ADR reporting is needed to develop greater awareness of this issue among pharmacists.

Association Between Diabetes-related Knowledge and Medication Adherence: Results From Cross-sectional Analysis.

Context • Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a growing health problem worldwide. To have optimal glycemic control, T2DM patients must have sufficient diabetes-related knowledge and must adhere positively and closely to a prescribed regimen. Medication adherence is a key determinant of therapeutic success in patients with T2DM. However, adherence to medications among T2DM patients varies widely, with estimates ranging from 36%-94%. Objective • The purpose of the study was to assess the level of and the association between diabetes-related knowledge and medication adherence among T2DM patients in Pakistan. Design • The research team conducted a cross-sectional survey. Setting • The study was carried out at the outpatient clinic of a public-sector teaching hospital in Sargodha, Pakistan. Participants • Participants were 392 diabetic patients of the hospital. Outcome Measures • In addition to the collection of data on the demographic and disease-related characteristics of the participants, the Urdu versions of the Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-U) and the Michigan Diabetes Knowledge Test (MDKT-U) were used to assess medication adherence and diabetes-related knowledge, respectively. Descriptive statistics were used to determine the demographic and disease characteristics, whereas a Spearman rank correlation was used to measure the association between medication adherence and diabetes-related knowledge. Results • The mean age of the participants was 50.77 ± 9.671 y, with males being the dominant gender (n = 222, 56.6%). The mean duration of diabetes was 5.58 ± 4.09 y. Of the 392 patients, 245 (62.5%) had an average knowledge of diabetes. Furthermore, 282 (71.9%) were categorized as showing poor adherence. A significant but weak positive correlation between diabetes-related knowledge and medication adherence was found for the study (r = 0.036, P < .05). Conclusions • Although diabetes-related knowledge among the patients was average, the adherence to treatment was poor. Because patients' knowledge about diabetes was positively associated with medication adherence, the research team believes that educating patients about the disease and medication management can result in better control of T2DM.

Supplement Use Among Pregnant Women in Ethiopia: Prevalence and Predictors.

Purpose The purpose of this article was to assess the pattern of supplement use and associated factors among pregnant women in Ethiopia. Methods A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A total of 339 pregnant women were included in the study, 63 (18.3%) and 23 (6.8%) of whom used at least 1 supplement during pregnancy and 2 to 4 weeks prior to pregnancy, respectively. Only 3 women were prescribed folic acid during pregnancy. The pregnant women were interviewed to collect supplements use and pregnancy-related information through a pretested semistructured questionnaire. Subsequent charts of prescribed supplements were reviewed using a pretested data collection format. Results The majority (76.4%) of the women claimed no awareness about the benefits of early supplementation. Supplement use was about 8 times higher among women with > 3 children (adjusted odds ratio, 7.85; 95% confidence interval, 1.69-36.28; P = .008) than among nulliparous women, and about 6 times higher among women in their second trimester (adjusted odds ratio, 6.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.91-20.55; P = .03) of pregnancy compared to those women in their first trimester. Conclusion Overall supplement use, particularly folic acid intake, was found to be negligible during the prenatal as well as antenatal periods. The majority of the women in the study lacked awareness about the benefits of supplementation and potential risks associated with the absence of folic acid during pregnancy. Information by the media and health care personnel given to childbearing women about the need to take folic acid to prevent neural tube defects seems to improve the intake of folic acid during the protective period.

Complementary and alternative medicines (CAM) disclosure to the health care providers: a qualitative insight from Malaysian cancer patients.

This study sought to evaluate Malaysian oncology patients CAM disclosure to the health care providers. Patients were interviewed across three major Malaysian ethnic groups, Malay, Chinese and Indian. Thematic content analysis identified three themes: reasons of CAM disclosure, reasons of CAM non-disclosure and preference of CAM discussion to health care providers. Patients agreed that CAM disclosure is important to avoid any interaction with the conventional medicines. Perceived lack of physicians' knowledge & interest in CAM, fear of termination of therapy by the physicians upon CAM disclosure, and perceived simplicity of some of the CAM therapies were among the reasons of non-disclosure. Given the option of oncologists, pharmacists or nurses, patients described oncologists as the most suitable person to discuss or disclose CAM use due to confidence in their clinical skills. Understanding the underlying beliefs of patients' reluctance to disclose CAM to health care providers is important especially when they are on an ongoing treatment for cancer.

Assessment of general public perceptions toward traditional medicines used for aphrodisiac purpose in state of Penang, Malaysia.

The study aims to evaluate general public perceptions regarding the use of Traditional and Complementary Medicines (TCM) for aphrodisiac purposes. A questionnaire based, cross-sectional study was undertaken. Respondents were selected in the state of Penang, Malaysia. A total of 392 respondents were included in the study. Descriptive statistics were used for data analysis. Chi Square/Fischer Exact tests were used where appropriate. Out of 392 respondents, 150 (38.26%) reported using specific Traditional medicines for aphrodisiac purposes. Most respondents (46.94%) agreed that aphrodisiac medicines were easily available t. Moreover, 40.31% of the respondents reported that traditional aphrodisiac medicines were cheaper than modern (prescription) medicines. This study highlights limited public knowledge regarding the use of traditional aphrodisiac medicine. Healthcare professionals should be aware of informal TCM usage when prescribing allopathic medicines.