ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The discovery of antimicrobials is a pioneering step in health sciences concerning preventive care and early management for infectious diseases. However, with advancements in health sciences, inappropriate knowledge, practices, and over-the-counter medications were often used by the general population in underdeveloped nations like India without thinking about its consequences which leads to the use of antimicrobials excessively or inadequately, which is also a factor for antimicrobial resistance. This quantitative study determines the awareness of healthcare professionals and laypersons about usage and resistance of antimicrobials. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Research was carried out in rural tertiary teaching hospital of study participants were 106 nurses, 115 interns, 107 junior residents, and 97 laypersons using a "self-administered WHO questionnaire". SPSS version 27.0 software was used to analyze the data. The P value cut-off for significance was established at <.05. RESULTS: Forty seven percent of nurses and 44% of interns consumed antimicrobials in the last month, more than interns and junior residents. Fourteen percent of interns and 13% of laypersons did not get any prescription for lastly taken antimicrobial. The majority of participants obtain prescribed antimicrobials from medical stores and pharmacies. Fifty five percent of laypersons and 59% of nurses stop taking antimicrobials when they feel better. Only 13% of nurses were aware of the proper indications of antimicrobials for the same illness. Only 22% of respondents know the term superbugs, significantly less than the other key terms related to the antimicrobials. Nurses and laypersons had some misconceptions related to the mechanism of development of antimicrobial resistance. CONCLUSIONS: The analysis revealed that a significant lack of knowledge and various misconceptions were primarily seen in the nurses and laypersons. In contrast, medical graduates such as interns and junior residents lacked the right attitude and perspective regarding the use of antimicrobials and their resistance.
ABSTRACT
This study places more of an emphasis on the hypertensive guidelines that are recommended for the management of hypertension by the American College of Cardiology (ACC) and the American Heart Association (AHA), as well as the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Society of Hypertension (ESH). This study examines the development of several different guidelines and focuses primarily on contrasting the similarities and differences that are given by American and European guidelines. Both sets of recommendations encourage the use of an optimal method for measuring blood pressure, such as the use of home blood pressure (BP) monitoring, or ambulatory monitoring, which a key recommendation is given by both sets of recommendations for the primary prevention of hypertension, and non-pharmacological treatment, such as modifying one's lifestyle, as the primary intervention. There are some differences between American and European BP treatment guidelines when it comes to determining what constitutes high BP and determining what BP level should serve as the treatment goal. To start pharmacological therapy, the AHA and ACC suggest maintaining a BP of at least 130/80 mmHg with an ASCVD positive or a cardiovascular risk of more than 10%, but the ESH and ESC propose maintaining a BP of at least 140-159/90-99 mmHg. Following American rules, high BP is divided into two stages; however, according to European recommendations, it is divided into three stages. Both sets of recommendations strongly encourage the use of combination therapies that only require one pill, such as single-pill treatment for multiple conditions, and both sets of recommendations restrict the use of certain drugs, such as beta-blockers, to patients who also have additional medical conditions.
