Behavioral, psychological, and clinical outcomes of Arabic-speaking people with type 2 diabetes during COVID-19 pandemic.

AIMS: Assess self-care activities, health behaviors, self-efficacy, diabetes distress, challenges, and changes in diabetes treatment and clinical parameters among Arabic-speaking people with T2DM during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at a tertiary hospital in the United Arab Emirates. The study instrument collected self-reported data using validated tools about health behaviors, self-efficacy, and diabetes distress, and challenges in accessing and using healthcare services during the pandemic and documented clinical data and treatment before and during the pandemic from medical records. RESULTS: 206 patients participated with a mean age of 58.7 years and 15.7 years since diabetes diagnosis. Non-adherence to healthful eating and exercise was reported by 38.3% and 73.7%, respectively. Exercise was the self-care activity that decreased the most (36.8%). Most participants had low diabetes distress (85.9%). There were no significant differences in clinical parameters before and during the pandemic, and diabetes treatment was unchanged for 72.8% of participants. Having two or more challenges with accessing and using diabetes healthcare services was significantly associated with decreased adherence to healthy eating (p = 0.025) and exercise (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: Arabic-speaking people with T2DM appeared to maintain relatively similar self-care levels, except exercise, with no deterioration in clinical parameters compared to pre-pandemic.

A global assessment of distance pharmacy education amid COVID-19: teaching, assessment and experiential training.

OBJECTIVES: To explore pharmacy colleges' experiences and challenges worldwide with the transition to online teaching during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. METHODS: From the six World Health Organization regions, 28 countries with the highest number of COVID-19 cases were identified, and 111 pharmacy colleges were randomly selected from these countries. Two online surveys were sent to faculty members and senior administrators. They assessed changes in teaching and learning, experiential training, assessment, readiness for and challenges with distance e-learning and work-related stress. KEY FINDINGS: Data were collected from 46 colleges. The majority (80.4%) of colleges transitioned to distance e-learning. On-site experiential training was discontinued in 55.5% of colleges and 25.0% redesigned on-site training into remote learning experiences. Assessments were modified in 75.9% of colleges. Assuring the integrity of assessments and delivering practical classes were the most prominent faculty challenges. The majority of faculty (75.0%) and administrators (61.9%) reported moderate work-related stress. Nevertheless, most academics felt that they received adequate support from their institutions and had positive perceptions of the transition to distance e-learning during the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic required drastic changes for most programs' teaching methods. Our results showed that educational institutions were somewhat able to support faculty and the needs of educational programs were largely met. However, academic rigour and provision of experiential training can be improved. Faculty emotional support and training needs were not fully addressed in these difficult times. These results shed light on how the global pharmacy academy has addressed the COVID-19 pandemic and help rethink crisis response models.

Prevalence Of Self-Medication With Antibiotics Among Residents In United Arab Emirates.

BACKGROUND: Self-Medication with antibiotics is a human practice and attitude in which an individual uses antibiotics to treat self-diagnosed symptoms. The self-medication with antibiotics is a common practice among residents in the UAE. PURPOSE: The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of self-medication of antibiotics among residents in the UAE population to determine its associated risk factors and to increase awareness regarding the abuse of antibiotics. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Three hundred and fifteen participants from different public places in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah,UAE received the validated questionnaire over the five-month study period. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software and the Chi-square test to assess the relationships between categorical variables. RESULTS: Of 315 participants, 31.7% (n=100) of the respondents reported the use of non-prescription antibiotics within a three-month study period. Self-medication with antibiotics was significantly associated with ethnicity and employment. The participants reported their previous experience with the disease (69; 21.9%), as the main reason for self-medication with antibiotics. The primary sources of antibiotics were those purchased from community pharmacies (70; 22.2%) and household (21; 6.7%). CONCLUSION: Our study showed a high prevalence of self-medication behaviour even with the enforcement of the new legislation regarding the prohibition of selling antibiotics without a prescription. Therefore, there is a need to raise public awareness towards the safe use of antibiotics in our community.

Consumer medication information: legislative gap and challenges of practice

Objectives: To assess and evaluate OTC package inserts in terms of availability of key medical information and patient understanding of such information, as well as package insert user satisfaction and perceptions. Methods: This study used two quantitative methods: Evaluation of the Over-the-Counter Package Inserts and assessing package inserts user’s satisfaction and perspectives using a cross-sectional survey. Descriptive analysis was used to calculate the response proportion of each group of respondents. Results: A total of 60 package inserts of Over-the-Counter drugs were evaluated. Less than onethird (30%) of the medication under investigation was found to have information about the unit of measurement of the active ingredient. Less than half (44.5%) of respondents reported they usually use the package inserts for information about their medication, and 42.2% rarely use or read package inserts. Difficulty reading or finding information in the package inserts was reported by 37.3 % of respondents. Conclusion: This research identified several factors associated with the proper use of package inserts among the general population in the United Arab Emirates and potential opportunities. Also, due to the lack of binding legislative texts, consumers are dissatisfied with the packaging inserts regarding their appearance and content. A mandatory guideline should be enacted by the competent authorities to ensure the comprehensiveness and readability of pharmacological information. (AU)