Saudi school students' knowledge, attitude and practice toward medicines.

The current study was aimed to assess Saudi school students' knowledge, attitude and practice about medicines. A pretested self-administered questionnaire was used anonymously among 15-20 year-old adolescents attending tertiary schools in Taif City, KSA. A total of 1022 students completed the questionnaires. Only 15.4% of the respondents knew the medicines' uses. Most of the students 79.6% affirmed that they used to take medicines after consulting physicians, and 45.1% of the students thought that tablet size affects the medicine's efficacy. More than half of the students knew that high temperatures affect the efficacy of medicines, there was a significant difference between rural and urban areas (P = 0.005). Physicians (50.6%) and community pharmacists (15.7%), were the main students' reliable sources of information about medicines. The majority of the students 70.5% were interested in learning more about medicines. The younger students ⩽18 years wish to learn more than the older ones (P < 0.014). The study showed that Saudi school students aged 15-20 years old have poor knowledge, misconception and negative attitudes about medicines. Low level of knowledge may expose adolescents to health-related problems. Educational efforts are important to improve students' practice toward medicines.

Pharmacy education instruction: Preference and practices, Saudi students' perception.

AIM/BACKGROUND: The methods of instruction in pharmacy education are crucial and meant to suit the professional development and encompass the advanced variety of services and functions provided by the pharmacists to serve individual patients. The aim of this study was to determine the students' opinions on the adopted and preferred methods of instruction in pharmacy colleges in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. METHODS: Opinions of Saudi pharmacy students regarding the adopted methods of learning were measured using a pretested questionnaire combined with Likert-type scales. RESULTS: Three hundred pharmacy students were interviewed. Direct type of lecturing was dominant (53.7%). The most frequently used language of instruction was combined English and Arabic (48.8%), that was mostly preferred by 52.5% of the students. Handouts were the most adopted post-lecture learning method (48.3%), while only 5.9% used student's self-written notes. A cocktail of traditional and electronic aids was used as admitted by 68.7% and 59.3% of the students who preferred this lecture delivery method. Almost half (49.3%) of the students agreed of having a routine fair guidance and support when referring to their lecturers. CONCLUSION: The study outcomes had revealed a practical guidance to be considered for instituting preferred modes of instruction to upgrading students' capacities for better understanding and acquiring academic and professional skills.

Effectiveness of Clinical Pharmacists-Led Medication Reconciliation to Prevent Medication Discrepancies in Hospitalized Patients: A Non-Randomized Controlled Trial.

Aim: Medication discrepancies are a major safety concern for hospitalized patients and healthcare professionals. Medication Reconciliation (MR) is a widely used tool in different practice settings to ensure the proper use of medications. Objective: This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of the clinical pharmacists-led MR process in identifying, preventing, and resolving medication discrepancies among hospitalized patients. Patients and Methods: This was a prospective study with an observational and interventional part, conducted at the Internal Medicine Department of a tertiary Hospital in Sudan from January to September 2023. The enrolled patients were divided into two groups, the observation group, in which the routine MR process was performed by doctors (usual care), and the intervention group, in which clinical pharmacists led the MR process. Results: Compared to the usual care, the clinical pharmacists were more efficient in identifying and preventing medication discrepancies (P=0.001). From a total of 1012 medications, clinical pharmacists' interventions contributed to the detection of (39%) equivalent to 2.2 discrepancies per patient, resolving 325 (83%) and preventing (55%) clinically significant discrepancies. Dose discrepancy (43%) was the most common type of identified discrepancies. These interventions were accepted by (98%) of doctors and implemented in (86%) of the total cases. The main predictors of medication discrepancies (P ≤0.05) for patients were the length of hospital stay, patient-hospital transfer, high number of medication histories, and increased number of medications used during hospitalization. Conclusion: Through the implementation of the MR process, the clinical pharmacist's interventions substantially contributed to the detection and resolution of medication discrepancies among hospitalized patients. It is recommended that this intervention be disseminated in more hospitals in Sudan to encourage the implementation of appropriate practices.

Pharmaceutical Care Within Community Pharmacies: Tools Availability and Pharmacists' Views, Wad-Medani, Sudan.

Background: Pharmaceutical Care (PhC) services within community pharmacies (CPs) have become a vital issue in many developed countries. Purpose: This study assessed the availability of PhC tools and pharmacists' views towards PhC services within CPs in Sudan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from December 2019 to August 2020 using a pretested self-administered questionnaire. The participants were 120 community pharmacists. Results: Fifty-eight percent of respondents used to work in pharmacies near homes rather than within the marketplace. The study revealed that the overall tool availability of the assessed components and items was only 25% (Counselling areas 3%, Records 5%, Pharmacist identity 3%, Pharmacy phones 15%, Medical devices 38%, and Staff 29%). The result of pharmacists' views towards the PhC concept, roles, and responsibilities showed a high level of agreement, at 88%, with a statistically insignificant difference between participants. Conclusion: Tools available within CPs were lower than required. However, pharmacists' views showed a high agreement level towards PhC concept roles and responsibilities. Community pharmacists, academic sectors, and regulatory authorities must start initiatives to improve the provision of PhC tools for better patient care service delivery.

Outcomes of Pharmacist-Led Pharmaceutical Care Interventions Within Community Pharmacies: Narrative Review.

Pharmaceutical care (PhC) services interventions led by pharmacists within community pharmacies (CPs) are essential in achieving optimal medication use outcomes. PhC is a concept related to medication use goals optimization through the reduction and prevention of drug-related problems (DRPs). This review paper summarized the literature on pharmacist-led PhC interventions within CPs. PubMed and Google Scholar publications were searched, identified, and summarized. Results showed that some studies handled community pharmacists' roles, and some talked about PhC interventions. However, some studies reviewed the use of medicines, adherence, and follow-up, while other groups were on counseling, patient education, and health promotion. Pharmacists integrated some studies concerning diagnosis and disease screening into community pharmacy services. Besides these studies, there were studies on system design and installation of PhC service models. Most of the identified research results showed pharmacist-led intervention benefits for patients. These benefits include reduced DRPs, clinical, economical, humane, education and knowledge, disease prevention and immunization, identification of practice process problems, and the need for current practice redesigning. In conclusion, pharmacists can help patients achieve optimal outcomes through pharmacist-led interventions. Despite mentioned results, We recommend researching comprehensively applied PhC services provision models within CPs for more pharmacists-led interventions and role activation.

Evaluation of errors in preparation and administration of intravenous medications in critically ill patients.

BACKGROUND: Intravenous medications have greater complexity and require multiple steps in their preparation and administration, which is considered a high risk for patients. OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of intravenous medications preparation and administration errors in critically ill patients. METHODS: This was an observational, cross-sectional, prospective study design. The study was performed in Wad Medani Emergency Hospital, Sudan . RESULTS: All nurses working at the study setting were observed over nine days. During the study period, a total number of 236 drugs were observed and evaluated. The total error rate was 940 (33.4%), of which 136 (57.6%) errors with no harm, 93 (39.4%) errors with harm and 7 (3%) of errors associated with mortality. 17 different drug categories were involved, in which antibiotic was the highest error rate 104 (44.1%) and 39 different drugs were involved, in which metronidazole was the most drug involved 34 (14.4%). The total error rate was associated with nurse experience, OR (95% CI); 3.235 (1.834-5.706), and nurse education level, OR (95% CI); 0.125 (0.052-0.299). CONCLUSION: The study reported high frequency of IV medications preparation and administration errors. Nurse education level, and experiences were influenced the total errors.

Sudanese Medical Doctors' Perceptions, Expectations, Experiences and Perceived Barriers Towards the Roles of Clinical Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Purpose: Interprofessional collaboration between physicians and clinical pharmacists has been shown to improve patients' outcome by reduce medical errors, costs and patient adherence. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the medical doctors' perceptions, expectations, experiences, and perceived barriers regarding clinical pharmacists in Wad Medani. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at five major hospitals in Wad Medani, between April and June 2021 using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed among 178 physicians. The questionnaire consists of four sections, in addition to a demographic section. These four sections measure physicians' perceptions, expectations, experience, and perceived barriers. Results: A total of 178 physicians were enrolled in the study. Physicians were comfortable with clinical pharmacists detecting and preventing prescription errors (55.1%); providing patient education (56.3%). Generally, physicians had high expectations with agreement rate of all the items ranged from 51.7% to 85.4%. Most physicians (79.8%) agreed that clinical pharmacists were a reliable source of general and clinical drug information. 64.0% and 59.0% of physicians perceive the unclear responsibility of clinical pharmacists and the lack of physicians' experience with clinical pharmacists were barriers that can hinder clinical pharmacists' contributions, respectively. Conclusion: Physicians had positive perceptions, expectations, and experiences with clinical pharmacists, and pointed out some barriers clinical pharmacists face. It was suggested that hospitals should recruit more clinical pharmacists to cover each unit within the hospital with clear job description and provide them CPD.

Impact of Clinical Pharmacist-Led Interventions on Drug-Related Problems Among Pediatric Cardiology Patients: First Palestinian Experience.

Background: Discovery and resolution of drug-related problems (DRPs) are taken as the cornerstone in the entire pharmaceutical care process to improve patient outcomes. Very limited reports on the analysis of DRPs in pediatric cardiology have been released worldwide. Objective: The aim of this study was to disclose the impact of clinical pharmacist's interventions on DRPs among pediatric cardiology patients in Palestine. Methods: Between January and September 2021, a prospective interventional study involving clinical pharmacist's care was implemented in the cardiology ward of Al-Rantisy Specialized Pediatric Hospital in Gaza, Palestine. Pharmaceutical Care Network Europe model 9.1 was used to identify DRPs, causes of the problem, clinical pharmacist's interventions, cardiologist's acceptance, and outcomes. Results: A total of 309 DRPs were identified in 87 patients, representing a mean of 3.55 problems per patient. The most common DRPs were "Treatment effectiveness" (50.8%) and "Treatment safety" (30.4%), while the main causes of these DRPs were "Errors in dose timing instructions" (9.4%) and "Inappropriate combination of drugs" (13.7%), respectively. Analysis revealed that 96.7% of the interventions suggested by the clinical pharmacist were accepted by cardiologists and that 92.1% of problems were fully resolved with improved patient outcomes. Conclusion: Interventions offered by the clinical pharmacist successfully addressed DRPs and positively impacted treatment outcomes in pediatric cardiology patients. With the high acceptance of pediatric cardiologists to the clinical pharmacist's experience in Palestine, there is a growing need to integrate clinical pharmacists into cardiology teamwork care to optimize drug therapy and patient safety.

Qualitative healthcare worker survey: Retrospective cross-sectional case study on COVID-19 in the African context.

Background: Despite the presence of COVID-19 epidemiologic data in Africa, there are gaps in the understanding of healthcare workers' concerns and fears early in the pandemic. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional multi-country pan-African qualitative survey case study on the perceived effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthcare workers in the continent focused specifically on personal safety and misinformation. The survey was distributed to 13 countries via snowball sampling of practitioners between April 22 and May 15, 2020. The survey solicited free-form answers, resulting in a large spectrum of responses. Qualitative analysis included open and axial coding methods for thematic emergence. Results: A total of 489 analyzable responses were recorded. The majority of respondents (n = 273, 57%) highlighted personal safety concerns including lack of resources and training to prevent infection (33%); fear of infection and transmission (24%); lack of public awareness and compliance with regulations (12%); governmental concerns (9%) and economic insecurity (11%) amongst others. 328 respondents (67%) reported having heard misinformation about COVID-19. Responses included misinformation regarding origin of the virus (11%), false modes of transmission (6%), differential effect for specific groups (30%), unproven cures (35%), and disbelief in existence (11%). Responses for misinformation and fears revealed categorical associations between certain countries. Conclusion: Addressing fears and concerns of frontline healthcare workers facilitates their essential role in combating community misinformation, and further understanding could provide essential insight to institutions and governments to direct resource allotment and community education.

Clinical Pharmacist's Intervention to Improve Medication Titration for Heart Failure: First Experience from Sudan.

BACKGROUND: Medications known to improve outcomes in heart failure (HF) are either not prescribed or prescribed at sub-therapeutic doses. The addition of clinical pharmacists to the HF team positively impacts optimizing prognostic medications for a patient with HF with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). OBJECTIVE: To assess the intervention of the clinical pharmacist as part of the multidisciplinary (MD) team in up-titration to achieve target doses of key therapeutic agents for HFrEF. METHODS: This was a prospective one group pretest-posttest interventional study; a comparison of the target dose achievement of key therapeutic agents for HFrEF was performed before and after clinical pharmacist interventions. RESULTS: Out of 110 HFrEF patients, 57.3% were males, and the mean age of patients was 55.8 years (SD 12.6). Cardiomyopathy was the leading cause of HF. At baseline, 86% were on angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers/angiotensin receptor-neprilysin inhibitors (ACEIs/ARBs/ARNi) and 93.6% on beta blockers (BBs). At the end of study, the proportion of patients achieved the target dose was significantly increased (0 vs 77.4%, 6.8 vs 85.4%, and 0 vs 55.6%) for ACEIs, ARBs and ARNi, respectively, and (8.6% vs 66.1%; P = 0.001) for BBs. Moreover, the up-titration process was associated with significant improvement in most clinical as ejection fraction and New York Heart Association (NYHA) scale and laboratory characteristics. CONCLUSION: As a part of the MD team in the outpatient HF clinic, the clinical pharmacists increased the percentage of HFrEF patients achieving the target or maximal doses of key therapeutic agents and improving clinical and laboratory parameters.

COVID-19 in Africa: Survey Analysis of Impact on Health-Care Workers.

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) spreads across Africa, little is known about the impact of the pandemic on health-care workers (HCWs) in the region. We designed an anonymous survey distributed via e-mail and phone messaging to 13 countries through the African Hepatitis B Network. We obtained 489 analyzable responses. We used risk ratio analysis to quantify the relationship between binary variables and χ2 testing to quantify the statistical significance of these relationships. Median age of respondents was 30 years (interquartile range, 26-36 years) and 63% were physicians. The top three sources of information used by HCWs for COVID-19 management included the Ministry of Health of each country, the WHO, and social media. Forty-nine percent reported a decrease in income since the start of the pandemic, with the majority experiencing between a 1% and a 25% salary reduction. Sixty-six percent reported some access to personal protective equipment; only 14% reported appropriate access. Moreover, one third of respondents reported no availability of ventilators at their facility. Strikingly, the percentage of HCWs reporting never feeling depressed changed from 61% before the pandemic to 31% during the pandemic, with a corresponding increase in daily depressive symptoms from 2% to 20%. Most respondents (> 97%) correctly answered survey questions about COVID-19 symptoms, virus transmission, and prevention. Our survey revealed African HCWs face a variety of personal and professional context-dependent challenges. Ongoing support of HCWs through and after the COVID-19 pandemic is essential.

Risk of Healthcare Worker Burnout in Africa during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

COVID-19 is now impacting every country in Africa and healthcare workers (HCWs) across the continent remain susceptible to professional burnout. We designed a 43-question survey addressing multiple aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey was anonymous, distributed via email and phone messaging to 13 countries in Africa. We obtained 489 analyzable responses. 49% off HCWs reported a decrease in income, with the majority experiencing between 1-25% salary reduction. Sixty-six percent reported some access to personal protective equipment (PPE), 20% had no access to PPE and only 14% reported proper access. Strikingly, the percentage reporting never feeling depressed changed from 61% before the pandemic to 31% during the pandemic, with an increase in daily depression from 2% to 20%. We found no association between depression and change in income, household size, availability of PPE or lockdown. Safety concerns related to stigma from being HCWs affected 56% of respondents.

Validation of the Arabic Version of General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS) in Sudanese Patients with Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to validate the Arabic version of General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS) in Sudanese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: A 3-month cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with T2DM at Al-Daraja Health Center, located in Wad Medani, Sudan. A convenient sample of patients was selected, and the study sample size was calculated using the item response ratio. Factorial, known group, and construct validities were determined. Internal consistency and reliability were also determined. RESULTS: Responses were provided by 500 patients. The average medication adherence score was 30 (median 31). The normed fit index (NFI) was 0.950, the comparative fit index (CFI) was 0.963, the incremental fit index (IFI) was 0.963, and the root-mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) was 0.071. The results from these fit indices indicated a good model. Factorial, known group and construct validities were all established. A significant association was found between adherence score and age (P = 0.03) since a larger proportion of older patients were found to have high adherence compared to patients in other age groups. The reliability (α) of the questionnaire was 0.834. CONCLUSION: The Arabic version of GMAS was validated in Sudanese patients with T2DM making it a suitable scale to be used in this population.

Hepatitis B Awareness and Vaccination Patterns among Healthcare Workers in Africa.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccination patterns and the understanding of its risks among healthcare workers (HCWs) is a critical step to decrease transmission. However, the depth of this understanding is understudied. We distributed surveys to HCWs in 12 countries in Africa. Surveys had nine multiple-choice questions that assessed HCWs' awareness and understanding of HBV. Participants included consultants, medical trainees, nurses, students, laboratory personnel, and other hospital workers. Surveys were completed anonymously. Fisher's exact test was used for analysis, with a P-value of < 0.05 considered significant; 1,044 surveys were collected from Kenya, Egypt, Sudan, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Malawi, Madagascar, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and Sierra Leone. Hepatitis B virus serostatus awareness, vaccination rate, and vaccination of HCWs' children were 65%, 61%, and 48%, respectively. Medical trainees had higher serostatus awareness, vaccination rate, and vaccination of their children than HCWs in other occupations (79% versus 62%, P < 0.001; 74% versus 58%, P < 0.001; and 62% versus 45%, P = 0.006, respectively). Cost was cited as the most frequent reason for non-vaccination. West African countries were more aware of their serostatus but less often vaccinated than East African countries (79% versus 59%, P < 0.0001 and 52% versus 60%, P = 0.03, respectively). West African countries cited cost as the reason for non-vaccination more than East African countries (59% versus 40%, P = 0.0003). Our study shows low HBV serostatus awareness and vaccination rate among HCWs in Africa, and reveals gaps in the perception and understanding of HBV prevention that should be addressed to protect HCWs and improve their capacity to control HBV infection.

Awareness and reporting of adverse drug reactions among health care professionals in Sudan.

BACKGROUND: Providers are often unaware of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) or may even lack basic knowledge about them. Underreporting has been attributed to time constraints, misconceptions about spontaneous reporting and bureaucratic reporting procedures, lack of information on how to report and a lack of availability of report forms, and physicians' attitudes to ADRs. This study was undertaken to determine baseline data for health care leaders' and policymakers' knowledge, attitudes, and policies related to ADRs at eight hospitals in Wad Madani, Sudan. METHODS: A random sample of participants completed the survey, which consisted of 35 closed questions and/or open-ended statements. RESULTS: Five hundred (83.3%) of the initial 600 surveys were returned, of which 475 (95%) were completed. Of the respondents, 175 (36.8%) were physicians, 100 (21.1%) were pharmacists, and 200 (42.1%) were nursing staff. The results indicated lack of polices for ADRs in most of the surveyed facilities. More than two thirds of the participants stated that they were not performing any ADR monitoring. The main reasons for not reporting ADRs were lack of knowledge on how to report (27.0%) and lack of awareness about the existence of national or international reporting systems (26.5%). Almost half (46%) of the participants reported the lack of any educational efforts for ADR prevention. DISCUSSION: Low awareness among health care professionals toward ADRs may reflect lack of basic knowledge and lack of vigilance. The study has helped promote health care professionals' ADR awareness and vigilance at the surveyed health care facilities. Education and training regarding ADRs of health professionals are warranted. Steps have been taken to develop ADR monitoring programs in collaboration with other stakeholders.

An audit of prophylactic surgical antibiotic use in a Sudanese Teaching Hospital.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic prophylaxis is effective at reducing the risk of postoperative infection for nearly all types of surgery. Objective To audit the use of prophylactic antibiotics for elective surgery. SETTING: Khartoum Teaching Hospital, Sudan, a 1,000 bed tertiary level hospital. METHOD: A prospective study was conducted over a 9 month period; patients admitted for elective surgery were included consecutively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The use and administration of prophylactic antibiotics for elective surgery. RESULTS: A total of 1,768 patients with mean age 37.8 ± 14 years were recruited (females, 83.3 % of total) who underwent 1,814 surgical interventions. Of these 1,277 (70.4 %) of procedures were clean-contaminated. A total of 1,758 patients (99.4 % of total) received antibiotics for prophylaxis; 1,730 patients (97.9 %) were given antibiotics in the operating room; for 1,288 (74.5 %) of cases the antibiotics were considered 'recommended', while for 442 (25.5 %) they were not. Out of the patients for whom prophylaxis was recommended and was given, 725 (56.3 %) of patients received a broad spectrum antibiotic or unnecessary combination, 913 (70.9 %) received a sub-therapeutic dose, 120 (9.3 %) were given the first preoperative dose within the proper time window, and 1,250 (97 %) of patients had an extended duration of prophylaxis. Compliance with all stated criteria was achieved in only 47 (2.7 %) of observed prescriptions. CONCLUSION: This audit showed a wide gap between international standards and local practices; the authors call for urgent action to correct this situation through the development and implementation of local clinical guidelines.