RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Despite the great benefits of breastfeeding for the mother and the child, many mothers face a lot of challenges and issues during lactation, which might lead to early weaning. AIM: The aim of this study was to assess the factors that can lead to early weaning and to identify the most common reasons to early weaning among breastfeeding mothers. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey study. Eight hundred and fifty questionnaires were distributed to lactating mothers, but only 820 were returned making the response rate of 96.5%. Breastfeeding mothers in Ajman and Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE) participated in the study. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The results were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software, version 20. IBM Corp. Released 2011. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the data concerning the demographic characteristics. Categorical variables (such as nationality and educational level) were described by using frequency, percentages, bar chart, and pie chart. RESULTS: The results revealed that 29% of respondents stopped breastfeeding for some reason. The main reasons stated by the participants were low milk supply (25.8%) and pain, congestion, and abscess (19.22%) followed by new pregnancy (17.5%), which were the most identified reasons for early discontinuation of breastfeeding. CONCLUSION: Our study indicated that the misconception of weaning because of a new pregnancy has declined in the UAE compared to a study conducted 3 years ago. A positive improvement was also observed in terms of weaning due to personal desire compared to previous years among mothers as they became more aware of the benefits of breastfeeding.
RESUMO
RATIONAL: Studies conducted showed that there were gaps regarding the rational use of medicines (RUM). AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: Evaluate RUM in main government hospitals in four emirates in UAE, using WHO prescribing indicators. METHOD: Multicenter prospective cross-sectional comparative study was conducted in 4 hospitals in 4 different Emirates in UAE. Using consecutive random sampling method, a total of 1100 prescriptions (2741 prescribed drugs) were collected and analyzed from surveyed hospitals from April to October 2012. Index of RATIONAL Drug Prescribing (IRDP) was used as an indicator of RUM. RESULTS: The main finding of this study was that, the mean values of prescribing indicators of RUM in the surveyed hospitals were estimated to be within the WHO optimal values for generics (100.0 vs. 100.0), antibiotics (9.8 ± 4.8 vs. ⩽30), injections (3.14 ± 1.7 vs. ⩽10) and formulary (EML) prescribing (100.0 vs. 100.0). However, the only discrepancy was reported regarding the number of drugs per prescription which was found to be more than the WHO optimal value (2.49 ± 0.9 vs. ⩽2); respectively. The mean IRDP was 4.55 which was less than the WHO optimal value of 5. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies and interventions are desirable to promote RUM and minimize the consequences of poly-pharmacy.
RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Chewing the leaves of the Qat plant (Catha edulis) for their pleasurable central stimulant effect is a habit that is widespread in Yemen and certain areas of East Africa. The use of the Qat leaves is believed to cause a variety of gastrointestinal and genito-urinary symptoms as well as sleep disturbance. We studied the subjective effects of chewing Qat leaves in human volunteers. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This prospective study included 1600 healthy adult male subjects who chewed Qat, and a similar number of 1600 subjects who never chewed Qat serving as control. Subjects in the Qat group chewed Qat for at least four hours daily for three successive days before answering a questionnaire. RESULTS: The study revealed that the prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms (epigastric bloating, belching and abdominal distension) and genito-urinary symptoms (weak stream of micturition, post-chewing urethral discharge) were significantly higher (P<0.0001) among Qat-chewing subjects than controls. Similarly, central nervous system (CNS) symptoms such as anorexia, insomnia (delayed bedtime), late wake-up the next morning and low work performance the next day, were significantly higher in Qat chewers (P<0.0001). Stepwise multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that GI symptoms which were significant in univariate analysis were no longer significant, whereas CNS and genito-urinary symptoms remained significant (P<0.0001). CONCLUSION: This study confirms that Qat chewing induces anorexia, weak stream of micturition, post-chewing urethral discharge and insomnia (delayed bedtime), which result in late wake-up next morning and low work performance the next day. These effects are believed to be caused by the central and peripheral actions of cathinone and cathine in the Qat leaves.
