ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: To assess knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of healthcare staff regarding pharmaceutical waste management; and to determine the impact of an educational programme on the KAP survey items. DESIGN: Pre-post-test intervention study. METHODS: The pre-intervention phase was performed using a sample of 530 out of 1500 healthcare workers. A predesigned interview questionnaire was used to assess KAP. Next, an educational programme was designed and offered to a subsample of 69 healthcare workers. KAP were re-assessed for the programme attendees using the same interview questionnaire, both immediately (post-test) and six months after the end of the programme (follow-up test). The parametric paired sample t-test was used to assess the difference between pre-test and follow-up test results. RESULTS: Poor knowledge and poor practice levels (scores 50%) detected in the pre-intervention phase were found to improve to satisfactory levels (scores ≥75%) in the follow-up phase. Attitude was found to be positive (score ≥75%) in all phases of the study. CONCLUSION: The educational programme led to a significant improvement in KAP of healthcare staff regarding pharmaceutical waste management (P<0.001).
Subject(s)
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice , Health Personnel/education , Pharmaceutical Preparations , Waste Management , Adult , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Humans , Male , Middle East , Program EvaluationABSTRACT
Implementing an appropriate drug dispensing system in hospitals is essential to ensure the safe and rational use of drugs. This study aimed to assess the unit-dose drug dispensing system (DDS) and the ward-stock DDS utilized in Gaza hospitals to ascertain which system is more beneficial. The quantitative, comparative cross-sectional design utilized structured interviews with pharmacists and head nurses, missing drug registration sheets and drug administration observation checklists. The number of missing units per drug item dispensed (mean 3.4 and 1.8 respectively) and medication administration errors per patient (mean 1.8 and 0.9 respectively) were statistically significantly lower in the hospital using the unit-dose DDS than the ward-stock DDS. The unit-dose DDS appeared to be safer, with fewer missing drugs, was more positively perceived by staff and was more supportive of good clinical pharmacy practice. Its use in other hospitals in the Gaza Strip is recommended.
Subject(s)
Medication Errors/prevention & control , Medication Systems, Hospital/organization & administration , Cross-Sectional Studies , Female , Health Care Surveys , Humans , Interviews as Topic , Male , Medication Errors/statistics & numerical data , Medication Systems, Hospital/standards , Middle East , Nursing, Supervisory , PharmacistsABSTRACT
Implementing an appropriate drug dispensing system in hospitals is essential to ensure the safe and rational use of drugs. This study aimed to assess the unit-dose drug dispensing system [DDS] and the ward-stock DOS utilized in Gaza hospitals to ascertain which system is more beneficial. The quantitative, comparative cross-sectional design utilized structured interviews with pharmacists and head nurses, missing drug registration sheets and drug administration observation checklists. The number of missing units per drug item dispensed [mean 3.4 and 1.8 respectively] and medication administration errors per patient [mean 1.8 and 0.9 respectively] were statistically significantly lower in the hospital using the unit-dose DDS than the ward-stock DDS. The unit-dose DDS appeared to be safer, with fewer missing drugs, was more positively perceived by staff and was more supportive of good clinical pharmacy practice. Its use in other hospitals in the Gaza Strip is recommended
Subject(s)
Community Pharmacy Services , Cross-Sectional Studies , Pharmacists , Pharmacy Service, HospitalABSTRACT
A descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated the compliance of physicians with the Palestinian essential drug list (EDL) in all the government primary care clinics in the Gaza Strip. While 67.4% reported currently using the EDL 51.2% of these physicians reported problems in using it. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 1.92, the percentage of drugs prescribed from the EDL was 97.9% but the percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was only 5.5%. A copy of the EDL was available in 28.3% of clinics and the availability of key drugs was 82.6%. The compliance of physicians with the EDL was generally good, but more efforts are needed to encourage prescribing by generic name and to ensure the supply of key drugs.
Subject(s)
Drug Utilization Review , Drugs, Essential/therapeutic use , Guideline Adherence , Physicians/legislation & jurisprudence , Practice Patterns, Physicians'/statistics & numerical data , Cross-Sectional Studies , Humans , Middle East , Physicians/organization & administration , Practice Guidelines as Topic , Practice Patterns, Physicians'/legislation & jurisprudenceABSTRACT
A descriptive cross-sectional study evaluated the compliance of physicians with the Palestinian essential drug list [EDL] in all the government primary care clinics in the Gaza Strip. While 67.4% reported currently using the EDL 51.2% of these physicians reported problems in using it. The mean number of drugs per prescription was 1.92, the percentage of drugs prescribed from the EDL was 97.9% but the percentage of drugs prescribed by generic name was only 5.5%. A copy of the EDL was available in 28.3% of clinics and the availability of key drugs was 82.6%. The compliance of physicians with the EDL was generally good, but more efforts are needed to encourage prescribing by generic name and to ensure the supply of key drugs
Subject(s)
Cross-Sectional Studies , Drugs, Generic , Physicians , Surveys and Questionnaires , Drugs, EssentialABSTRACT
This study aimed to assess the main maternal risk factors associated with preterm birth in the Gaza Strip. A hospital-based case-control study was carried out at El-Shifa and Khan-Younis hospitals with 200 women with preterm births and 200 control women. Significant risk factors for preterm birth were: maternal age > or = 35 years, being a refugee, inadequate antenatal care, failure to gain adequate weight during pregnancy and previous history of preterm birth. Other significant risk factors included: short stature, short interval between the last 2 pregnancies, presence of congenital gynaecological abnormalities, previous history of caesarean delivery and previous history of stillbirth.
Subject(s)
Premature Birth/epidemiology , Premature Birth/etiology , Adolescent , Adult , Birth Intervals/statistics & numerical data , Body Height , Case-Control Studies , Cesarean Section/statistics & numerical data , Chi-Square Distribution , Female , Genitalia, Female/abnormalities , Hospitals, Public , Humans , Logistic Models , Maternal Age , Middle East/epidemiology , Pregnancy , Pregnancy Outcome/epidemiology , Premature Birth/prevention & control , Prenatal Care/standards , Refugees/statistics & numerical data , Reproductive History , Residence Characteristics , Risk Factors , Stillbirth/epidemiology , Surveys and Questionnaires , Weight GainABSTRACT
This study aimed to assess the main maternal risk factors associated with preterm birth in the Gaza Strip. A hospital-based case-control study was carried out at El-Shifa and Khan-Younis hospitals with 200 women with preterm births and 200 control women. Significant risk factors for preterm birth were: maternal age >/= 35 years, being a refugee, inadequate antenatal care, failure to gain adequate weight during pregnancy and previous history of preterm birth. Other significant risk factors included: short stature, short interval between the last 2 pregnancies, presence of congenital gynaecological abnormalities, previous history of caesarean delivery and previous history of stillbirth
