Students' Perspectives of the Economic, Financial, and Psychological Effects of Online Learning and Its Gender Association: A Cross-Sectional Study in Jordanian Universities.

INTRODUCTION: Jordan declared a quarantine in March 2020 and shut down all educational institutions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. E-learning was a novel way to continue the educational process in the wake of the pandemic. The study evaluates online learning (OL), aiming to examine the economic, financial, and psychological effects of OL on students, as well as their concentration, university instructors' efficiency, and satisfaction with OL. This research also explores the gender association of OL effects in Jordanian universities. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. A self-filled questionnaire was generated using an online form and distributed to students at public and private universities through social media. The questionnaire utilized a five-point Likert scale to assess various aspects related to OL. The main evaluation involved a Chi-square test and posthoc test to examine gender-based differences in the factors associated with OL. The reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using a Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) value of 0.721 and a Cronbach's Alpha of 0.7. RESULTS: A total of 720 responses were collected and analyzed. The results revealed a significant gender association with the economic/financial (P=0.001) and psychological (P=0.002) effects of OL. It was observed that 65.3% of students reported feeling depressed due to online learning. Moreover, a significant correlation was found between students' concentration and university instructors' efficiency (P=0.00). Interestingly, only 14.72% of students believed university instructors were 100% efficient in teaching theoretical and practical subjects. Additionally, 55% of the students expressed their desire for university instructors to record lectures for ease of access. CONCLUSION: The study concludes that OL's poor economic/financial effects disproportionately affect female students. On the other hand, male students were more likely to strongly disagree with the poor psychological effects of OL. Moreover, female students were more inclined to strongly disagree with the notion that OL has no psychological effect. Lastly, significant findings indicate that both students and university instructors share equal responsibility for the success of OL in Jordanian universities.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Loneliness Among University Students: A Cross-Sectional Study in Jordan.

INTRODUCTION: Loneliness is characterized by a sense of melancholy, emptiness, and despair, as well as a higher risk of both psychological and physical problems. Numerous post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) sequela, both physically and mentally, have been caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic that has affected many people. Memory issues and loneliness were found to be uniquely correlated. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how the COVID-19 epidemic affected the levels of loneliness among Jordanian university students. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study. Google Forms were used for data collection, utilizing a three-item loneliness scale developed by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), United States, which accounts for the following items: (1) how often does the participant feel about lacking companionship, (2) how often does the participant feel being left out, and (3) how often does the participant feel isolated from others. Each item was marked for three frequency levels of experience: (1) hardly ever, (2) some of the time, and (3) often. Responses to the three loneliness questions were graded on a scale of 3-9, with scores between 3 and 5 indicating "not lonely" and scores between 6 and 9 indicating "lonely." RESULTS: The study included 802 participating students. Specifically, 75.4% of the participants were females, 58% were aged 20-25, and 39% were 17-19. In addition, 37% were from the capital city, while 28% lived in the middle area. Seventy nine percent were from public universities, and 74% were studying in their second year. According to UCLA's three-item loneliness scale, 411 (51.2%) participants were lonely, while 391 (48.8%) participants were not feeling lonely. According to direct question answers, 576 (71.8%) participants were lonely, and 226 (28.2%) were not lonely. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that the frequency of loneliness was high among Jordanian university students. However, both genders experienced equal levels of loneliness, while younger participants felt more lonely than older ones.

Assessment of Jordanian pharmacists' knowledge and perception regarding sexual and reproductive health and their practice in providing sexual counseling to patients.

Objective: In this quantitative study, we intended to explore sexual/ reproductive counseling between Jordanian pharmacists by addressing pharmacists' knowledge regarding sexual/ reproductive health and their perception and practice in providing counseling to patients. Method: This study adopted a survey methodology using a self-completed validated and administered unnamed survey. Participants were asked to fill-out the electronic survey after providing their electronic consent. Social media was utilized to extend the survey to facilitate contact multiple parts of pharmacists' community. Results: In this study, 200 pharmacists agreed to participate in this study. Most of the pharmacists knew that depression (n= 182, 91%) and alcohol (n=171, 85.5%) were among the main factors that my decrease sexual performance. Also, only 38.5% of the pharmacists (n= 77) agreed that discussing sexual issues is the responsibility pf pharmacists, and only 55% of them (n= 110) felt comfortable discussing patients' sexual matters as any medical issue. Moreover, more than two-third of the pharmacist (n= 146, 73%) reported that if they were consulted about sexual problem, they may explore patients' problem. On the other side, only half of pharmacists (n= 102, 51%) revealed that they may discuss the side effects of prescribed drug if it might affect sexual performance. Conclusion: Education on sexuality/ reproduction is the key to help Jordanian pharmacists to advance patients' sexual/ reproductive health. In general, research on sexual/ reproductive health in conservative societies is limited. Therefore, additional surveys that include the perspectives of both patients and pharmacists on sexuality/ reproduction to augment this normally ignored aspect of health are necessary.

Assessment of Jordanian Pharmacists’ Knowledge and Perception Regarding Sexual and Reproductive Health and their Practice in Providing Sexual Counseling to Patients

Objective: In this quantitative study, we intended to explore sexual/ reproductive counseling between Jordanian pharmacists by addressing pharmacists’ knowledge regarding sexual/ reproductive health and their perception and practice in providing counseling to patients. Method: This study adopted a survey methodology using a self-completed validated and administered unnamed survey. Participants were asked to fill-out the electronic survey after providing their electronic consent. Social media was utilized to extend the survey to facilitate contact multiple parts of pharmacists’ community. Results: In this study, 200 pharmacists agreed to participate in this study. Most of the pharmacists knew that depression (n= 182, 91%) and alcohol (n=171, 85.5%) were among the main factors that my decrease sexual performance. Also, only 38.5% of the pharmacists (n= 77) agreed that discussing sexual issues is the responsibility pf pharmacists, and only 55% of them (n= 110) felt comfortable discussing patients’ sexual matters as any medical issue. Moreover, more than two-third of the pharmacist (n= 146, 73%) reported that if they were consulted about sexual problem, they may explore patients’ problem. On the other side, only half of pharmacists (n= 102, 51%) revealed that they may discuss the side effects of prescribed drug if it might affect sexual performance. Conclusion: Education on sexuality/ reproduction is the key to help Jordanian pharmacists to advance patients’ sexual/ reproductive health. In general, research on sexual/ reproductive health in conservative societies is limited. Therefore, additional surveys that include the perspectives of both patients and pharmacists on sexuality/ reproduction to augment this normally ignored aspect of health are necessary. (AU)

Pharmacists' Perception of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) in Jordan: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVES: To analyze the role of pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic, to measure pharmacists' attitude toward COVID-19 safety measures (wearing masks, wearing gloves, isolation shield, good hygiene, etc.), and explore their perspectives regarding a second wave of the virus. METHODS: This cross-sectional online survey study was conducted in Jordan during the COVID-19 outbreak in July 2020 to discuss Jordanian pharmacists' awareness of safety at their workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, their sources of information, and their predictions for COVID-19 vaccination. RESULTS: The participants (n = 311) were all pharmacists mostly aged between 23-30 years old (45%) and female (83%). The primary source of information about COVID-19 was social networking (38.9%). Pharmacists were committed to social distancing (86.5%) and wearing masks (76.2%). They expressed levels of agreement to their role in decreasing COVID-19 spread (94.2%) and correcting false information (94.5%); they expressed levels of expectation toward concern about a second COVID-19 wave (83%) that would be more severe than the previous one (43.4%). Pharmacists expected that an influenza vaccine might be helpful in decreasing severity and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic (56.9%). Pharmacists expected COVID-19 vaccine development within 6 months of administering our study survey (84.9%) and that vaccination might be effective in preventing COVID-19 (93%) infection. CONCLUSION: Pharmacists expressed positive roles on COVID-19 spread through exemplary actions, self-commitment to protection measures, and public health awareness. Social media as a source of health information should be cautiously investigated, and pharmacists should always refer to evidence-based sources. The role of pharmacists is particularly important for the upcoming era of COVID-19 vaccination administration and awareness.

Value of a Community-Based Medication Management Review Service in Jordan: A Prospective Randomized Controlled Study.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of a medication management review (MMR) service on treatment-related problems (TRPs) and certain clinical outcomes in outpatients. DESIGN: Prospective randomized controlled study. SETTING: Two community pharmacies in Amman, Jordan. PATIENTS: A total of 160 people who visited the two community pharmacies between September 2009 and June 2010. INTERVENTION: Patients were randomized into two groups: intervention (82 patients) and control (78 patients) groups. The clinical pharmacist conducted a baseline assessment MMR for patients in both groups to determine the prevalence and type of TRPs; however, recommendations regarding the identified TRPs were only submitted to the physicians of patients in the intervention group. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: All patients were followed for an average of 3.39 months after their baseline visit to the pharmacy. The impact of the MMR service for the intervention group was assessed by evaluating the outcomes of the recommendations submitted by the clinical pharmacist to resolve the identified TRPs, physicians' acceptance of the recommended interventions, and the effect of the intervention on certain clinical outcomes: blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and triglyceride levels. Follow-up assessment of the control group included evaluating the outcomes of the identified TRPs (identified and corrected by physicians without any input from the clinical pharmacist) and comparing glucose level, blood pressure, and triglyceride-level results with baseline values. No significant differences in mean number of medical conditions (3.7 vs 3.42, p=0.134), mean number of medications (4.51 vs 4.96, p=0.135), or mean number of TRPs per patient (5.55 vs 5.17, p=0.42) were observed at baseline in the intervention group versus the control group. Follow-up results revealed a high acceptance rate of recommendations by the physicians (94%). Regarding outcomes of TRPs, almost 70% of the identified TRPs in the intervention group were resolved or improved compared with 2% in the control group (p<0.001). Significant differences were found between the intervention group versus control group with regard to mean ± SD glucose levels (99.08 ± 9.66 vs 115.48 ± 17.34, p<0.001), blood pressure (110.36/81.55 ± 9.45/3.91 vs 125.0/88.73 ± 10.34/4.12, p<0.001), and triglyceride levels (148.53 ± 15.98 vs 170.74 ± 6.26, p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The MMR service resulted in a significantly lower number of TRPs and significantly improved clinical outcomes, and it was highly accepted by the physicians.