Browsing by Author "Ahmed, Nehad J."
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Item Adsorption Properties of Thermally Treated Rice Husk for Removal of Sulfamethazine Antibiotic from Pharmaceutical Wastewater(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-06) Balarak, Davoud; Bandani, Fatemeh; Shehu, Zaccheus; Ahmed, Nehad J.Equilibrium sorption of the Thermally Treated Rice Husk (TTRH) for Sulfamethazine (SMT) adsorption was studied. The Physico-chemical properties of the modified rice husk were determined. The equilibrium sorption data were fitted into Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherms. Of the three adsorption isotherm, the R2value of Langmuir isotherm model was the highest. Also compared to other isotherms the AARE coefficient for the Langmuir isotherm is low,which indicates favorable sorption. The maximum monolayer coverage (qm) from Langmuir isotherm model was determined to be 19.11 mg/g, the separation factor indicating a favorable sorption experiment is 0.446. Also from Freundlich Isotherm model, the sorption intensity (n) which indicates favorable sorption andthe correlation value are 1.84 and 3.79 respectively. The mean free energy was estimated from Dubinin–Radushkevich isotherm model to be 9.18 KJ/mol which clearly proved that the adsorption experiment followed a physical processItem The Adverse Effect Reporting for the Most Commonly Used Antibiotics(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-05) Ahmed, Nehad J.; Fouda, Mohammed I.; Fouda, Dina I.; Foudah, Ahmed I.Aim:Antibiotics save lives, but the excess use of antibiotics leads to more side effects. Patients benefit from medications but also complain about their adverse effects. This study aims to explore the reports of the adverse effects for the most commonly usedantibiotics in Saudi Arabia.Methodology:The Data regarding the adverse events reports were collected from The National Pharmacovigilance Centerin Saudi Arabia. The data include the major allergic reactions and gastrointestinal side effects for the most commonly used antibiotic classes.Results:The total number of allergic and gastrointestinal adverse effects in 2017 and 2018 for the included antibiotic drugs is 583 reports. The majority of the reports were for penicillin antibiotics (39.96) particularly Amoxicillin/Clavunate Conclusion:The most common adverse effects of antibiotics are allergic and gastrointestinal effects. It is important to report any adverse drug reactions either by health care providers or patients to the Saudi Pharmacovigilance CenterItem The Adverse Effects Reporting of Antibiotic Induced Diarrhea(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-04) Ahmed, Nehad J.Introduction:In Saudi Food and Drug Authority, there is a center called National Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Center responsible for adverse events reporting. This study aims to demonstrate the antibiotic induced diarrhea reporting by National Pharmacovigilance and Drug Safety Center in Saudi Arabia.Methodology: This is a retrospective study about the reporting of diarrhea adverse effects caused by antibiotics. The data were collected from the adverse effects reports that were submitted to Saudi Food and Drug Authority in 2017 and 2018. Results: Gastrointestinal adverse effects reports were mainly for penicillin antibiotics. The major gastrointestinal adverse effect of penicillin was diarrhea (100 reports out of 147 reports for penicillin include diarrhea). Most of the diarrhea reports were caused by Amoxicillin/Clavulanate followed by Amoxicillin.Conclusion: One of the major adverse effects for antibiotics is diarrhea that is mainly occurred by penicillin antibiotics. The majority of cases of antibiotics-associated diarrhea are not serious, but still affect the patients’ quality of life. Therefore, it is important to increase the awareness regarding medications adverse effects and their reportingItem Age and Gender Differences in the Pattern of Antiplatelet Agents Prescribing(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-08) Ahmed, Nehad J.Aim:There is a scarcity of data regarding gender and age related aspects of antiplatelet drugs utilizationin the outpatient setting. Thus, the objective of the present study was to determine the age-and gender-related differences in the outpatient use of antiplatelet drugs in Alkharj.Methodology:This is a retrospective study that include the assessment of electronic prescriptions in the outpatient setting that include an antiplatelet drug in 2018.Results:Ticagrelor was prescribed mainly for patients more than 60 years old (84.62%). Clopidogrel was prescribed mainly for patients more than 50 years old (79.76%) and aspirin also was prescribed mainly for patients more than 50 years old (71.67%). Generally, most of the patients who received antiplatelet agents were male (52.76%).Conclusion:The present study showed that there were differences in prescribing antiplatelet agents between different gender and different ages. So it is important to know the prescribing trends and to give the appropriate drugs based on several factors such as gender and age. It is expected that in the future, antiplatelet therapy may be based on age and on endogenous sex hormone level or genetic female/male differencesItem The Anxiety and Stress of the Public during the Spread of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19)(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-05) Ahmed, Nehad J.; Alrawili, Abdulrahman S.; Alkhawaja, Faisal Z.Aim: This study aims to assess the public anxiety and stress during the spread of novel Coronavirus (COVID‐19).Methodology:The survey was prepared using CDC “Daily Life & Coping with Coronavirus Disease 2019” section. The data were collected and analyzed using Excel software. The descriptive data were represented by frequencies and percentages.Results:About 91% of the 304 respondents fear and worry about their own health and the health of their families and about 82.24% of them are worried about the effect of the disease spreading on work and study.The majority of the respondents think that people infected with the Coronavirus will experience social rejection and avoidance from others (61.51%) but only 12.5% think that people with the disease may be deprived of health care, education, housing and work.Conclusion:COVID-19 spreading increase the stress and worry of the public regarding their health, their family health and negative economic effect of the disease. It is important to increase the awareness regarding COVID-19 and to improve the communication of health care professionals and the public with infected patientsItem Chloroquine and Hydroxychloroquine could be an Available Weapons to Treat COVID-19 Associated Pneumonia(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-06) Ahmed, Nehad J.Aims: This study aims to review the efficacy of chloroquineandhydroxychloroquine to treatcoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) associated pneumonia.Methodology: This review includes searching Google scholar for publications about the use of hydroxychloroquinein the treatment of COVID-19 using the words of (Covid-19) AND hydroxychloroquine.Results:Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have proven effective in treating coronavirus in China in vitro, but till now only few clinical trials are available and these trials were conducted on a small sample size of the patients.The efficacy of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine is mainly due to its effect on angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2).Conclusion:The use of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine could be verypromising but more trials are needed that include larger sample size and more data are required about the comparison between chloroquine and hydroxychloroquinewith other antiviralsItem Evaluation of Drug-related Knowledge and Clinical Skills among Future Healthcare Professionals(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-05) Iqbal, Muhammad Shahid; Iqbal, Muhammad Zahid; Rajan, Sawri; Ahmed, Nehad J.Background: The main objective of this study was to determine and compare current drug-related knowledge and clinical skills in terms of medication error identification among future healthcare professionals. Methods: Study participantswere asked to identify errors in three different prescriptions. Around 15 minutes were given to complete the questionnaire without using any references in a classroom setting. The medication error identificationrate was calculated based on the number of students that have identified the errors correctly.Results: Among 225 respondents, significant differences were found between the three groups,i.e. Prescription 1 p=0.001, Prescription 2 p=0.023, Prescription 3 p=0.024. Pharmacy students had highermedication erroridentification rate compared to medical and nursing students.Conclusion: Final year pharmacy students were found to have the best drug-related knowledge and clinical skills in terms ofmedication error identificationItem Examination of Bacterial Pathogens an in Intensive Care Unit of a Military Hospital in Alkharj(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-06) Ahmed, Nehad J.Aim: The present study was undertaken to identify the most common infectious agents for Intensive Care Unit (ICU)patients in a military hospital in Alkharj –Saudi Arabia.Methodology: This study was conducted in a military hospital in Alkharj –Saudi Arabia. Identification of Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria was performed with standard microbiological methods.The isolates that are collected from ICU from blood, urine and other samples in the year 2019 are included.Results: Out of 992 bacterial isolates only 6.15% were collected from ICU. The majority of the bacteria that were found in the ICU were Gram-positive bacteria. The most common bacteria that were found in ICU were Staphylococcus aureusfollowed by Pseudomonas aeruginosaand Escherichia coli.Conclusion:We found differences in the prevalence of bacteria in the ICU compared to other studies. The predominant bacteria in ICU were Staphylococcus aureus. The present data could help physicians to know the causative organisms and to administer the most suitable antibiotics for treatment of nosocomial infections in Alkharj area after knowing the susceptibility rate of bacteria to different antibiotics.Item Health-related Quality of Life among Community Pharmacists(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-04) Iqbal, Muhammad Shahid; Al-Saikhan, Fahad I.; Ahmed, Nehad J.; Iqbal, Muhammad ZahidIntroduction:The role of community pharmacists (CPs) has kept on changing. Due to the evolving role of CPs, it is important to know its impact on the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among CPs. Besides, the literature on the HRQoL of CPs is not being enriched, there is an urge to carry out a study to evaluate the HRQoL among CPs. This study aimed to examine the association between the socio-demographic factors and the HRQoLamongCPs. Methodology: A set of questions related to the HRQoL has been adopted from a pre-validated questionnaire, the Duke Health Profile and contextualized it to measure study outcomes. The target population in this study was the registered CPs that were practicing. The site of the study included all the chain and independent pharmacies. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS)version 22.0 was used to analyze the data and the significance level was set at p≤0.05. Variousdomains of the Duke Health Profile (DHP) were calculated using the provided formula Results: A total of 172 respondents were included in this study. Several HRQoL domains were significantly associated with socio-demographic factors. The univariate analysis illustrated that mental and general healthstatehad significant associations with age, practice setting was significantly associated with the mental health state, the salary was significantly associated with self-esteem and mental health was significantly associated with length of service and practice setting. Dysfunction dimensions of anxiety, anxiety-depression, and pain were significantly associated withgender. Conclusion: Gender, age, length of service, salary and practice setting were the risk factors for HRQoL among CPsItem How Do Out-of-Pocket Expenditures Affect Healthcare: A Qualitative Insight of Acute Exacerbation among Asthma Patients(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-04) Iqbal, Muhammad Shahid; Fahad I. Al-Saikhan; Ahmed, Nehad J.; Iqbal, Muhammad ZahidIntroduction: This study was designed todetermine the out of pocket costs (OOPCs) of acute exacerbation of asthma (AEA) in asthma patients attending a public hospital.Methodology:A cross-sectionalstudy was done by interviewing the patients using the convenience sampling technique. Data were obtained based on per episode of AEA. OOPCs were calculated based on direct and indirect costs. A total of 128patients participated in the study. The data were analyzed with SPSS ver 23.Results: The study group comprised of 88 males (68.8%), 57 (44.5%) singles and 67 (52.3%) less than 40 years of age. There were considerable differences found between the severity levels and lengths of hospital stay towards theOOPCs. Conclusion:The severity of the AEA and length of stay in the hospital increase the per episode OOPCs of AEA among asthma patientsItem Incidence of Candida Species Infections in a Military Hospital in Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-05) Ahmed, Nehad J.Aim: The present study aims to demonstrate the incidence ofCandidaspecies associated with infections in a Military hospital in Alkharj.Methodology: This is a retrospective study that was conducted to assessthe prevalence ofCandidaspecies in a Military hospital in Alkharj –Saudi Arabia. The isolates from various clinical specimens in 2018 and 2019 were studied.Results: The percentage of candida species in the 2 years was 6.21% of isolates. The Candidaalbicanswere 40.87% of the total Candidaisolates. The majority of Candidaspecies cultures were collected from wound/pus/skin or vagina and to lesser extent urine and lower respiratory tract.Conclusion:Candidaspeciesare now common pathogens that cause infections specially in the gastrointestinal tract, vagina and at surgical site. It sometimes may lead to high morbidity and mortality rate. It is important to know the resistance rate for the fungi and it is important to start the implementation of antifungal treatmentprogramsItem The Increasing Interest in Antibiotic Stewardship Programs(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-02) Ahmed, Nehad J.; Khan, Mohd. F.Background:The inappropriate use of antibiotics leads to many adverse effects and also leads to bacterial resistance. A hospital-based program, commonly referred to as antibiotic stewardship programs, is usedto improve the usage of antibiotics. This study aims to explore the increasing interest of the public in antibiotic stewardship programs by using data from Google Trends and Twitter.Methodology:A search trends feature that shows how frequently a given search term is entered into Google’s search engine (Google Trends) and a social network site (Twitter) were used.Results:The public and the health care professionals are now more interested in antibiotic use and antibiotic resistance due to the development of more severe infections that were caused by bacteria resisted to many antibiotics which lead to high morbidity and mortality rates.Conclusion:There is a high prevalence of infections caused by multi-drug resistant organism that could lead to more mortality and morbidity rates, as a result the interest in antimicrobial stewardship programs in internet is increased. So it is important to increase the knowledge of health care professionals regarding the appropriate antibiotic use and to encourage them tochange their unsuitable prescribing patternsItem Knowledge, Practices and Attitude of Healthcare Providers about Using Face Mask to Limit the Spread of the Novel Coronavirus Disease(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-08) Ahmed, Nehad J.; Alanazi, Omar S.; Alzahrani, Abeer A.; Alonazi, Rana E.Aim: There is evidence that health care providers have insufficient knowledge and poor practices regarding the use of surgical mask. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the knowledge, practices and attitudeof healthcare providers about using face mask in order to limit the spreading of the novel coronavirus disease.Methodology:This was a cross sectional pilot study included a questionnaire about the knowledge of health care workers regarding the use of surgical face mask to prevent the new COVID-19 spreading and about their practices and the attitude of them regarding the use of surgical face mask to limit the new COVID-19 exposure Results: About 86.21% of health care workers said that the correct way ofusing surgical face maskisWhite side facing in and about 65.52% of them said that N-95 mask is the mask type that actually protect against COVID-19. All of the respondents reported that they wear a mask in public places to protect themselves against COVID-19 and that they wear a mask in hospital premises to protect themselves against COVID-19 (100.00%).Conclusion: The Knowledge, attitude, and practice of health care providers regarding the use of surgical face masks were found to be good but still more knowledge is required about several aspects such as the types of masks, the duration of using masks and the disposal of the masksItem Medication Errors Identification Rates by Healthcare Students(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-03) Iqbal, Muhammad Shahid; Ahmed, Nehad J.; Iqbal, Muhammad ZahidIntroduction:Medication errors caused devastating consequences affecting both the healthcare system and the patient’s trust. Junior doctors, pharmacists, and nurses are prone to make these mistakes. Thus, this study served a purpose to evaluate the pharmacological knowledge of the healthcare students (HCSs) i.e. pharmacy, medical, and nursing studentsthroughdetecting errors in the prescriptions, as this will reflect their performance once they come in real practice.Methodology:A cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted using a validated research tool consisting ofdemographics attributes (gender, race, duration of pre-university and age) as well as three prescriptions. The research tool was distributed to final year HCSs. Demographic data of the respondents were required to investigate the contributing factors in medication errors’ identification. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics by using SPSS ver. 22.Results: 197 students responded to this study. Findings show that pharmacy students yield high percentages compared to medical and nursing students in identifying errors in the prescriptions. 91.1% of pharmacy students were successful in recognizing the errors in prescription 1, 55.0% in prescription 2 whereas 96.2% in prescription 3. There wasa significantassociation betweenthe age of the respondents and their ability in identifying the errors (p=0.012). No significant relationship was observed between race, gender and duration of pre-university in identifying the mistakes in the prescriptions (p>0.05).Conclusion: Pharmacy students had the highest percentage ofmedication error identification rates probably in light of the pharmacy curriculum focuses mainlyon pharmacology and therapeutic monitoring. This study portrays the importance of additional clinical training in undergraduate programs to enhance student’s pharmacological knowledge and their attitude towards patient safety practicesItem Medicine amongst Health Care Specialists and University Students in Health Colleges in Saudi Arabia(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-08) Ahmed, Nehad J.; Alrawili, Abdulrahman S.; Alkhawaja, Faisal Z.Aim: There are a few studies about the populations' knowledge and perceptions on personalized medicine in Saudi Arabia until now. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the knowledge and awareness on personalized medicine amongst health care specialists and university students in health colleges in Saudi Arabia.Methodology: This is a cross-sectional study that include a survey targeting health care specialists. The survey translated to Arabic and after validation, it was converted to an online survey using google forms.Results: About 52.34% of the participants have heard about different terms regarding personalized medicine (personalized medicine, healthcare reform, individualized care and pharmacogenomics). Most of the health care specialists in the present study said that they have poor knowledge about personalized medicine (68.75%). Most of the participants in the present study were interested to learn about personalized medicine and showed a positive attitude about it.Conclusion: The present study found that health care specialists had a poor knowledge about personalized medicine but they are interested to learn more about this field. Therefore, more training and awareness programs about personalized medicine are needed to facilitate its introduction in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, more focus on this field should be introduced into the health colleges’ curriculaItem Mood and Anxiety Disorders among the Public(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-05) Ahmed, Nehad J.; Alrawili, Abdulrahman S.; Alkhawaja, Faisal Z.Introduction:Mood disorder is one of the most prevalent and the most disabling disorders that affect humankind health, so it is important to know its symptoms, how it is treated suitably and how it can be assessed. This study aims to assess the mood of the public.Methodology: This study includes an online questionnaire, the questionnaire questions were prepared using the mood self-assessment of NHS and after that converted to online google formResults: About 20.8% of the respondents reported that they have been bothered by feeling down, depressed or hopeless in nearly every day. About 59% of them reported that they experienced an anxiety attack.Conclusion:The results of this study show a high percentage of anxiety and depression among the public. It is important to increase the public awareness about anxiety and depression and how to deal with these disorders.Item Outpatient Doxycycline Therapy: Frequency of Its Use and Its Prescribing Patterns in a Public Hospital(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-04) Ahmed, Nehad J.Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the outpatient doxycycline therapy: Frequency of its use and its prescribing patterns in a public hospital.Methodology: This was a retrospective study which was conducted in a public hospital in Alkharj City in 2018. The outpatient prescriptions were reviewed to evaluate the prescription patternsof Doxycycline.Results:The study results found that about 48.38% of the patients were female and about 62.90% were from Saudi Arabia. Doxycycline was prescribed mainly by resident physicians. Doxycycline was prescribed mainly in the emergency department followed by obstetrics & gynecology department.Conclusion: Doxycycline was prescribed infrequently in the outpatient settings; it is reserved only for specific conditions. It is important to use antibiotics wisely by the patients and to prescribe and dispense antibiotics including doxycycline appropriately by health care professionals.Item The Outpatient Prescribing Pattern of Cefuroxime in Al-Kharj(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-06) Ahmed, Nehad J.Introduction:Several previous studies reported a high prescribing rate of cephalosporin antibiotics such as cefuroxime. The inappropriate outpatients prescribing of cefuroximeleadsto the development of bacterial resistance.Aim: This study was conducted to demonstrate the prescribing pattern of cefuroxime in the outpatient setting in Alkharj.Methodology:This retrospective study was conducted to know the prescribing pattern of cefuroxime. The data were collected from electronic prescriptions in a public hospital in Alkharj in 2018. The data were collected and analyzed using Excel software and represented as frequencies and percentages.Results:In 2018, there were 316 prescriptions containing cefuroxime. The majority of the patient wasmales (56.01%). The majority of cefuroxime prescriptions include tablet dosage form (81.96%). About 62.03% of the outpatient prescriptions were prescribed by the emergency department.Conclusion:Cephalosporin group (including cefuroxime) was one of the most commonly prescribed antibiotic groups to treat several infections. A high percentage of antibiotic prescriptions were prescribed inappropriately. It is important to increase the awareness about the wise use of antibiotics and to start the implementation of antimicrobial stewardship programs.Item The Outpatient Use of Furosemide in a Public Hospital(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-05) Ahmed, Nehad J.Aim:The prescribing pattern of furosemide helps the prescribers in the monitoring and evaluation of the drugs and helps them in recommending the necessary modifications. So the aimof the present study is to demonstrate the outpatient use of furosemide in a public hospital.Methodology:This is a retrospective study was conducted in a public hospital in Alkharj city. The outpatient prescriptions were reviewed to demonstrate the prescription patternsof furosemide. The study included all outpatient prescriptions that contains furosemide in 2018.Results:Furosemide was prescribed in 46.27% of diuretics prescriptions in the outpatient setting. The majority of the patients were female patients.Most of the patients were more than 39 years old. Most of the furosemide prescriptions were prescribed mainly by resident prescribers, mainly in the cardiology department.Conclusion:Furosemide is an important medication for treating cardiovascular diseases specially in the presence of edema. It is important to increase the awareness of health care professionals and patients regarding the use of furosemide. Moreover, it is important to increase the awareness of the public regarding the importanceof adherence to furosemideItem Pattern of Ciprofloxacin Prescribing at Outpatient Setting in Al-Kharj(SCIENCEDOMAIN international, 2020-05) Ahmed, Nehad J.Aim: The study was conducted to demonstrate the pattern of ciprofloxacin prescribing at outpatient Setting in Al-kharj.Methodology:A retrospective study was conducted to demonstrate the pattern of ciprofloxacin prescribing. The Information was collected from electronic prescriptions in a public hospital in Al-Kharj city. The data was processed using Microsoft Exceland the descriptive data was represented as frequencies and percentages.Results:There were 611 ciprofloxacin prescriptions in 2018. Ciprofloxacin is the 5thmost commonly prescribing antibiotics in the outpatient setting in 2018. The majority of the patients were in the age level between 20-39 (53.51%). Out of 773 prescriptions, 162 were excluded (eye or ear drops). There were 608 tablets (99.51%).Conclusion:Ciprofloxacin is one of the common prescribed antibiotics in the outpatient settings. If it is prescribed inappropriately it will lead to increase bacterial resistance rate, increase adverse effects and increase the cost of the treatment. It should be prescribed appropriately and the patients should be monitored frequently during its use