- Sunday, March 14, 2010
- Published at:The International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, Volume 21, Number 4, 2009, pp. 193-200.
- Background and Objective: Inappropriate use and storage of pain medications may cause unnecessary wastage and potential harm. The objective of this study was to investigate the extent of storage, wastage and potential harm of pain medications stored in households in Nablus district, Palestine. Methodology: This is a cross sectional, anonymous, questionnaire-based study. The drug product inventory in the surveyed households was investigated and family members were interviewed. Data were coded, entered and analyzed using statistical package for social sciences software (SPSS 16). Results: A total of 415 households in Nablus district, Palestine were surveyed. The total number of medications in the surveyed households was 5505; the mean ± SD was 13.3 ± 7.8. The total number of pain medications stored was 1103, constituting 20% of the stored medications. The average number of pain medications was 2.7 ± 1.8 per household. Pain medication storage was not associated with most of the tested demogr
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- Wednesday, March 10, 2010
- Published at:Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine
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Objectives The objectives of this study were to assess the knowledge and practices associated with pesticide use in an agricultural community in Palestine, and to determine the prevalence of self-reported health symptoms related to pesticide exposure.
Methods In this cross-sectional questionnaire study, agricultural farm workers in Nablus district, Palestine, were interviewed on their knowledge and practices of pesticide use. Comparisons of knowledge and practices of pesticide use between various groups were performed using the Mann–Whitney U-test or the Kruskal–Wallis rank test of variance. The program of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 15 was used for data analysis.
Results The questionnaire was completed by 381 farm workers. The mean age ± SD of the participants was 38.8 ± 11.8 years. The majority (97.9%) of the participants were male. The mean participant scores for knowledge and safety procedures were 2.8 ± 3
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- Monday, February 1, 2010
- Published at:Cephalalgia
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Headache is one of the most common complaints in clinical practice. Few studies regarding headache in university students have been conducted in the Middle East. The objective of this study was to explore the prevalence, clinical characteristics, triggering factors and treatment options of headaches in university undergraduate students in Palestine/ Middle East. Data were collected by interviewing a sample of 1900 students. The Headache Assessment Quiz was used to measure quality and severity of headache and to collect data on triggering factors and symptom management. A total of 1808 (95.2%) reported having at least one headache episode in the previous year. A positive family history of headache was found in 40% of students. The prevalence rate of frequent headache (two or more episodes/month) was found in 1096 (60.9%) students; 613 women (55.9%). Of those having frequent headaches, 228 (20.8%) experienced moderate to severe episodes, 341 (31.2%) had pulsating, throbbing and pounding pain, and 274 (25%) ha
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- Tuesday, January 5, 2010
- Published at:International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
- Int J Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2010 Jan;48(1):59-67.
Storage, utilization and cost of drug products in Palestinian households.
Sweileh WM, Sawalha AF, Zyoud SH, Al-Jabi SW, Bani Shamseh FF, Khalaf HS; 1College of Pharmacy and 2Poison Control and Drug Information Center (PCDIC), An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine.
Background and objective: Appropriate storage and use of medications in households may decrease drug wastage and unnecessary hazard. The objective of this study was to investigate storage, utilization habits and cost of medications in households in Palestine. Methods: This is a cross sectional, anonymous, questionnaire-based study of 465 households in northern Palestine. The drug product inventory in the surveyed households was investigated and family members were interviewed. Results: A total of 465 households were assessed, 50 were excluded. The total number of drug products in the 415 households was 5,505; the mean +/- SD was 13.3 +/- 7.8. Level of father\'s education, pr
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- Wednesday, December 30, 2009
- Published at:Clinical Medicine : Therapeutics
- Objective: The present study aimed to determine the time course of aminoglycoside-induced serum creatinine (SCr) elevation and compare that in patients treated with amikacin (AK) and those treated with gentamicin (GM).
Methodology: A one-year, non-interventional prospective study of patients with normal baseline renal function and were administered either GM or AK. The study was carried out at the internal medicine department of Al-Watani governmental hospital. Outcome of interest was the time course of serum creatinine elevation during the course of aminoglycoside therapy. Data were entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS 16).
Results: The study was performed in 94 patients, who had to be administered GM or AK by intravenous injections. In both groups, the significant rise in SCr was detected on the 4th day of therapy. However, GM induced up to 32% increase while AK induced up to 19.5% increase in SCr from baseline levels. In the course of AK treatment, patients
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RSS
Waleed M. Sweileh, Professor of Clinical Pharmacology & Pharmacy: