ABSTRACT
Therapy-related symptom checklist for children [TRSC-C] was developed as a symptom assessment tool in children receiving chemotherapy. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Persian version of TRSC-C. This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2013-2014 in Tehran, Iran. TRSC-C was translated using backward-forward approach. The content validity, face validity, and comprehensiveness were investigated based on the opinion of experts. The item content validity index [I-CVI] and scale content validity index [S-CVI] were calculated by the mean approach and inter-rater agreement. The scale was revised based on the comments from a team of five experts, after which it was evaluated by an additional group of four experts. To assess the inter-rater reliability, two raters filled the scale with 29 and 30 patients in the outpatient clinic of Hazrat-e Ali Asghar Hospital. The Cronbach's alpha was calculated and factor analysis was performed. The scores of content validity were analyzed in Excel. Other statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS software version 20.0. Based on the initial assessment, the S-CVI with less conservative approach was 60% for clarity, 33% for relevancy, and 60% for simplicity. After revising the scale, the S-CVI reached 100%. The comprehensiveness and face validity of the scale were appropriate. The scale was inter-rater reliable and the Cronbach's alpha was 0.803. Eleven subscales were found in the TRSC-C. It is concluded that the Persian TRSC-C is a valid and reliable tool for measuring children symptoms. Availability of a valid and reliable checklist is a fundamental step in monitoring the symptoms of patients while receiving chemotherapy
ABSTRACT
Medication error [ME] is the most common preventable cause of adverse drug events which negatively affects patient safety. Inadequate, low-quality studies plus wide estimation variations in ME from developing countries including Iran, decreases the reliability of ME evaluations. To clarify sources, underreporting reasons and preventive measures of MEs, we reviewed Iran current available literature. We searched Scopus, WOS, PubMed, CINAHL, EBSCOHOST and Persian databases [IranMedex, and SID] up to October 2012. Two authors independently selected and one reviewed and extracted data. Results reported by more than 30% of studies considered as the most important topics. Finally 25 articles were included. All study designs were cross-sectional [except for two interventional studies] and in hospital settings. Nursing staff and students were the most observed populations. Individual factor, with "inadequate knowledge of medication" as its most frequent reason, were the mostly reported source of MEs. Fear and reporting process were two most important reporting barriers. The sense of being reprimanded and ignoring to report respectively were their most frequent factors. Anti-infectives were the most frequent drugs involved in MEs. Preventive measures were varied and reporting of their effectiveness was inconsistent. There are still many research gaps which need to be explored by further studies. Based on our findings, further researches may be focused on design, implementation, and evaluation of a ME reporting system as groundwork, assessing systems-related factors to ME alongside individual factors and evaluating the effectiveness of preventive measures for MEs in trials
ABSTRACT
Thalassemia along with hematopoietic stem cell transplantation [HSCT] can lead to major oxidative stress. Vitamins A and E are antioxidants which protect membrane from lipid peroxidation. We sought to determine for the first time, whether vitamins A and E supplementation is efficacious in maintaining or increasing plasma level of these vitamins in thalassemic children undergoing HSCT. A cross-sectional study was performed on 50 children with beta-thalassemia major hospitalized for HSCT. Patients took a daily multivitamin. Plasma vitamins A and E levels were measured at four different times: on admission, HSCT day [day 0], day 7 and day 14 after HSCT. Plasma vitamin A and E were abnormal on admission in most patients [62.0% and 60.0% respectively]. Ratio of patient with normal to abnormal plasma level of the vitamins improved from baseline to a peak on day 7 then deteriorated afterward until day 14. There was an increasingly positive correlation between daily oral intake and plasma vitamin A at different times, but plasma vitamin E showed inverse correlation at first which tended towards no correlation subsequently. In multivariate analysis, supplementation significantly changed plasma level of vitamin A at different measurement time [P=0.001] within study subjects. But, plasma level of vitamin E showed no significant difference [P=0.2]. Our findings suggest that oral supplementation could have beneficial effects due to increasing plasma vitamin A level and preventing plasma vitamin E depletion
ABSTRACT
Inappropriate use of drugs is a widespread problem with serious consequences such as increased adverse drug reaction and antimicrobial resistance. Proper interventions would have important financial and public health benefits. Several studies have been performed about Rational Drug Use [RUD] in Iran. To provide a picture of researches were done about RUD and highlight the existing gaps in practice in Iran, a systematic search was conducted by reviewing all papers [English and Persian] found by searching keywords in Pubmed, Web of Science, Google Scholar, CINAHL, Proquest, International Pharmaceutical Abstract [IPA], SID, Iran Medex and MagIran. Retrieved articles were extracted in Access form and exported to Excel for further analysis. After excluding duplicate and irrelevant articles, 466 related articles were remained. Number of publications increased dramatically after 2001. About 73% of studies were cross-sectional. Evaluation of prescribing pattern [15%], self-medication [11.3%] and adverse drug reaction [9.1%] were among the top topics which were studied. Despite an increasing trend in RUD publications in Iran, still large gaps remain to be investigated. Knowing the existing gaps is crucial for policy makers to make investments to solve the problems