ABSTRACT
Introduction: The main prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and healthcare cost reduction depend on the early identification and treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors through screening. Hypertension, obesity, a large waist circumference, smoking, poor diets, physical inactivity, and excessive alcohol consumption are well-known and potentially treatable risk factors for cardiovascular disease. This allows for early detection of instances, informs the start of CVD prevention medication, and is also very cost-effective. Method(s): At rural India, between March and August 2021, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in community pharmacies. One thousand two hundred healthy individuals were screened for signs of obesity, high blood pressure, waist circumference, and history of smoking and alcohol intake. A structured questionnaire was used to get participants' physical activity and diet. Result(s): The gender split of the 1200 participants who were screened was 67.8% male and 32.3% female. Participants' ages ranged from 18 to 60 years old in 43.3% of cases, 41 to 60 years old in 26.3%, and over 60 in 30.4% of cases. There were 43.7% of drinkers and 47.3% of smokers, respectively. A BMI of 25 kg/m2 or more indicates being overweight, whereas a BMI of 30 kg/m2 indicates being obese. Using a diagnostic cutoff of >140/90mmHg prevalence of hypertension was 44.3%, and 14.9% out of these were previously hypertensive. 31.5% had high waist circumference, 13.9% had insufficient physical activity, and 34.9% had insufficient intake of fruits and vegetables. Conclusion(s): The majority felt that screening for CVD risk factors was helpful, and more than one-fourth of the study participants had two or more CVD risk factors combined. A cost-effective strategy for the primary prevention of CVD that can have a positive influence on the healthcare delivery system is the capacity to further discover previously undetected risk factors.Copyright © 2023, Global Research Online. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background: Off-level medicines do not provide adequate health outcomes since there is insufficient efficacy and/or toxicity evidence. Off-level medicines are more vulnerable to adverse drug reactions (ADRs), which are a prominent cause of morbidity and mortality. Objective of the study is to determine the relationship between the medication complexity and severity of COVID-19 and its impact on pharmacotherapy evaluation. Materials and Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in the COVID ward where medication complexity was assessed for all prescriptions on admission using the Medical Regimen Complexity Index's guidelines and subjected to pharmacotherapy evaluation. Results: Overall, the patients spent an average of 7.55 +/- 3.60 days in the hospital. Each prescription contained an average of 6.54 +/- 2.51 drugs. Polypharmacy was found in 82.70% (263) of the prescriptions, while medication duplication was found in 17.29% (55), severe drug interactions accounted for 83.01% (264), and drug dosage adjustment was performed in 10.06% (32). The mean medication complexity was 26.86 +/- 7. 58. When comparing medication complexity concerning the severity of COVID-19, we found that the average medication complexity score for mild was 24.62 +/- 6.04, moderate was 31.65 +/- 8.39, severe was 35.19 +/- 6.81, and critical was 28.59 +/- 8.60. we found a statistically significant positive correlation between the medical complexity and the hospital stay (P-value, 0.000), and there was an association between the medication complexity and the Covid-19 severity (p <0.001). Conclusion: The assessment of the medication complexity in routine pharmacotherapy evaluations could be beneficial in alerting potential risks, suggesting additional focus wherever required, and decreasing the financial burden by reducing hospital stay. It demonstrated an association between medication complexity and the severity of COVID-19.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19 pandemic presents countries with major political, scientific, and public health challenges. The onset of the pandemic resulted in both positive and negative impacts on people’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of the covid-19 pandemic imposed lockdown on happiness and depression. A cross-sectional study was conducted using two standard Questionnaires «Oxford Happiness Index» and «Montgomery and Asberg Depression Rating Scale». The Questionnaire was employed through Google form, and circulated via social platforms. All the collected data were analyzed using the SPSS version 22 statistical method. A total of 494 out of 515 participants gave consent, the majority of them belonging to the age group 18-25(74.7%). Our study noticed that during the COVID-19 lockdown, the majority of the participants were very happy as they got quality time to spend with their family and friends. Only a few experienced severe depression mainly due to pandemic situations or missing their beloved ones. The lockdown imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic was correlated with an impact on both happiness and depression. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in increased happiness and very few people suffered depression during a lockdown situation. There will always be an important need to track population habits and well-being and to collect research data to establish evidence-driven strategies to minimize the impact of the introduction of lockdowns and the consequences induced by these unprecedented changes in the everyday lives of people.