Drinking and recreational water-related diseases: a bibliometric analysis (1980–2015)

BACKGROUND: Water – related diseases are worldwide health concern. Microbial contamination and contaminant products in water are a source of disease outbreaks and development of cumulative toxic effects. Ensuring safe water is one of the goals to be achieved at the global level. The aim of this study was to assess publications on drinking and recreational water from a health point of view to understand current problems and future research trends in this field. METHODS: Scopus, the largest scientific electronic database, was used to retrieve related articles and present the results as bibliometric tables and maps. Search query was modified manually using related terms to maximize accuracy. RESULTS: A total of 2267 publications were retrieved with an average of 16.82 citations per article. The h-index of retrieved articles was 88. Visual mapping showed that E. coli, diarrhea, cryptosporidiosis, fluoride, arsenic, cancer, chlorine, trihalomethane, and H. pylori were most frequently encountered terms in title and abstract of retrieved articles. The number of articles on water microbiology was a significant (P < 0.01) predictor of worldwide productivity of water – related disease publications. Journal of Water and Health ranked first in number of publications with 136 (6.00 %) articles. The United States of America ranked first in productivity with a total of 623 (27.48 %) articles. Germany (15.44 %), India (16.00 %) and China (20.66 %) had the least international collaboration in water-related disease research. Environmental Protection Agency and Centers for Disease Prevention and Control were among top ten productive institutions. In the top ten cited articles, there were three articles about arsenic, one about aluminum, one about trihalomethane, one about nitrate, one about toxoplasmosis, one about gastroenteritis, and the remaining two articles were general ones. CONCLUSIONS: There was a linear increase in the number of publications on water – related diseases in the last decade. Arsenic, in drinking water is a serious concern. Cryptosporidiosis and other infectious gastroenteritis remain a major health risk of exposure to contaminated water. Increased number of publications from Asian countries was not associated with a high percentage of international collaboration.

Pattern of self-medication with analgesics among Iranian University students in central Iran

Self-medication is defined as the use of drugs for the treatment of self-diagnosed disorders. It is influenced by factors such as education, family, society, law, availability of drugs and exposure to advertisements. This study was performed to evaluate self-medication with analgesics and its pattern among different groups of Iranian University Students. A randomized, cross-sectional, multicenter study was conducted from December 2009 to February 2010. The target population of this study was 564 students out of 10,000 students attending four medical and non-medical science universities in Qom state. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 16, and analysis was conducted with descriptive analysis procedures. 76.6% of the students had used analgesics in self-medication in the previous 3 months. The frequency of analgesic use in the study period was once in 19.2% of the participants, twice in 22.2%, three times in 16.3% and more than three times in 35.5% of the participants, although 6.8% of them were not sure when they were used. Of all the respondents, 49.8% reported headache as the problem. This was the most common problem, after which came Dysmenorrhea, headache and stomach ache. Bone and joint pains were other problems that led to the use of analgesics. The most commonly used source of information for self-medication with analgesics was advice from friends and family [54.7%], previously prescribed medications [30.1%], their medical knowledge [13.3%] and recommendation of a pharmacist [1.9%]. Self-medication with analgesics is very high among Iranian students in Qom city. This could be an index for other parts of the Iranian community. Because the source of information about analgesics is inappropriate, we would recommend education courses about analgesics and self-medication on the radio and television for the entire population

Optimal dosing of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in patients with chronic heart failure: a cross-sectional study in Palestine

Because high-dose angiotensin-converting enzyme [ACE] inhibitor therapy is desirable in patients with chronic heart failure [CHF], we sought to determine the usage and dosing patterns of ACE inhibitors in CHF patients at a governmental hospital in Palestine. This cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2006 and August 2007. All patients admitted with a confirmed diagnosis of CHF and an ejection fraction < 40% were evaluated. After excluding patients with a caution/contraindication to ACE inhibitor use or not taking an ACE inhibitor, we determined the number of patients receiving optimal [captopril 150-300 mg/day, enalapril 20-40 mg/day, ramipril 5-10 mg/day] and suboptimal doses. We then conducted statistical analyses to evaluate associations between ACE inhibitor use and dosing and various demographic and clinical factors. Of the 165 patients initially evaluated, 69 [41.8%] had a caution/contraindication [n=28, 40.6%] or were not using an ACE inhibitor [n=41, 59.4%]. Of the remaining 96 patients [70.1%], 49/96 [51%] were given an optimal dose while 47/96 [49%] were given a suboptimal dose. Of all patients with CHF and no contraindication [n=137], 88 [64.2%] were either receiving no ACE inhibitor or a suboptimal dose. Only the presence of hypertension was significantly associated with the use of an ACE inhibitor [P=.009, odds ratio=2.7]. The use of an optimal dose was not significantly associated with any of the tested factors [age, gender, presence of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, renal dysfunction, ischemic heart disease or number of diagnosis]. Underutilization and suboptimal dosing of ACE inhibitors was common. Since there is an abundance of evidence in favor of using high-dose ACE inhibitor therapy in patients with CHF, physicians need to be educated about proper dosing of these agents

Pattern of parenteral antimicrobial prescription among pediatric patients in Al Watani government Hospital in Palestine

No studies were carried out in Palestine to investigate the antimicrobial prescribing among hospitalized pediatric patients. The objective of this study was to audit and therapeutically analyze the pattern of parenteral antimicrobial prescriptions among pediatric patients in Al-Watani government hospital in Palestine. Such audit will be of great value to clinician and health policy makers. Data on antimicrobial prescribing were collected for 30 consecutive days for all pediatric patients admitted to Al-Watani government hospital. Data on antimicrobial prescribing were entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences [SPSS] program. Analysis was done for age, sex, diagnosis, site of infection, number of antimicrobial agents given, how many times have the drug regimen been changed and the frequency of individual drug use. Three hundred and forty pediatric patients were admitted to Al-Watani government hospital during the study period. Gastroenteritis was the most common cause of hospitalization, while upper respiratory tract infection [URTI] was the most common cause of parenteral antimicrobial agent administration. Two hundred and ten [61.8%] patients received parenteral antimicrobial agents while 16 [4.7%] received both parenteral and oral antimicrobial agents. Single antimicrobial agent was prescribed for 172 [76.1%] patients. Cefuroxime was the main single antimicrobial agent used, it was administered to 70/226 [31%] patients. Treatment patterns used for most patients were nearly according to current therapeutic recommendations. However, improving the availability of rapid diagnostic methods to differentiate between viral and bacterial infections is suggested to reduce empiric therapy numbers by antimicrobial agents so as to decrease chance for drug resistance