Coronavirus Disease 2019 Knowledge, Its Vaccine Uptake Intentions, and the Influence of Personality Traits among Undergraduate Pharmacy Students in a University Setting: Findings and Implications.

Context: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is the greatest global health catastrophe of the century, with its vaccine hesitancy compounding the woes. Relevant stakeholders, including pharmacy students (whose education was disrupted) are important bulwarks against these catastrophes, but their COVID-19-related information are scarce.

Aims: We assessed COVID-19 knowledge, its vaccine uptake intentions, and the influence of personality traits among pharmacy undergraduates in a Nigerian university.

Pharmacy Students' Perception of the Content and Delivery of Drug Information Training: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Objective: To explore the pharmacy students' perception of the content and pedagogical strategies used for the delivery of drug information (DI) training.

Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was conducted among BSc Pharmacy and PharmD students at the College of Pharmacy, Qatar University. The first phase consisted of a quantitative cross-sectional survey using a 34-item pretested questionnaire.

Determinants of caregiver's knowledge and practices regarding childhood fever management in a developing setting: a multi-centre cross-sectional assessment.

Introduction: Fever is both a sign of various diseases (chief of which are infectious in nature) and an adverse effect of certain interventions (e.g. vaccines, drugs) in the pediatric population.

Predictors of community pharmacists' readiness to manage the effective and safe use of oral anticancer medicines in a developing setting.

Background: There is a paucity of studies about the readiness of community pharmacists to manage the safe and effective use of oral anticancer medicines (OAMs) in developing settings.

Objectives: Using the readiness component (knowledge and willingness) of the situational theory of leadership, the study assessed community pharmacists' readiness to manage the safe and effective use of OAMs in Qatar, and also identified its significant predictors.

Methods: A cross-sectional assessment of 252 community pharmacists was conducted with a pre-tested 48-item questionnaire.

Predictors of enablers and barriers to community pharmacists' management of minor ailments in a developing setting: A theory-driven assessment.

Background: The clinical and financial burdens associated with minor ailments are well documented, but published evidence suggests that minor ailment services led by community pharmacists have a remarkable positive impact, mainly in developed settings. There is a paucity of evidence on community pharmacists' self-perceived enablers and barriers to the effective management of minor ailments.

Objectives: The objective of the study was to identify community pharmacists' self-perceived enablers and barriers to the effective management of minor ailments as well as their significant predictors.

Knowledge of Lassa fever, its prevention and control practices and their predictors among healthcare workers during an outbreak in Northern Nigeria: A multi-centre cross-sectional assessment.

Background: The year 2020 Lassa fever (LF) outbreak had the greatest disease burden and this can place an enormous strain on the already overstretched healthcare system and can potentially increase morbidity and mortality due to infectious diseases. Therefore, having a knowledgeable healthcare workforce with appropriate skills and competencies to prevent and manage outbreaks of a neglected infectious disease such as LF in Nigeria will potentially enhance public health. Thus, this survey assessed the level of knowledge of LF and its prevention and control (PC) measures amongst the healthcare workers (HCWs) during a LF outbreak in Katsina state, Nigeria.

Prevalence, types and severity of medication errors associated with the use of automated medication use systems in ambulatory and institutionalized care settings: A systematic review protocol.

The use of automated systems within the medication use process has significantly reduce the occurrence of medication errors and the associated clinical and financial burden. However, automated systems lull into a false sense of security and increase the risk of medication errors that are often associated with socio-technical interactions, automation bias, workarounds and overrides. The objective of the systematic review is to determine the prevalence, types and severity of medication errors that are associated the use of automated systems in ambulatory and institutionalized care settings.

Community Pharmacists' Knowledge and Attitudes Towards Pediatric Pain Management in Nigeria.

Purpose: Community pharmacists (CPs) frequently attend to pediatric patients with pain but limited data exist regarding their knowledge of and attitude to effective management of pediatric pain in Nigeria. Thus, this study aimed to evaluate the knowledge of and attitude to pediatric pain management among CPs in Nigeria.

Patients And Methods: A validated and pilot-tested questionnaire, the Community Pharmacists Survey on Pediatric Pain, was administered to 517 eligible participants at the 38th Annual National Conference of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria.

Determinants of community pharmacists' information gathering and counseling practices during the management of minor ailments.

Objective: To assess the determinants of community pharmacists' information gathering and counseling practices during the management of minor ailments in Qatar.

Method: A cross-sectional study of 305 community pharmacists was conducted with a pre-tested 27-item questionnaire. Bivariate logistic regression was used to identify the determinants of information gathering and counseling practices.

Management of common minor ailments in Qatar: Community pharmacists' self-perceived competency and its predictors.

Studies focused on comprehensive assessment of self-perceived competency of community pharmacists to manage minor ailments are scanty despite that self-perceived competency is a valid determinant of task performance. The objectives of the study were to assess community pharmacists' self-perceived competency to manage fourteen common minor ailments in Qatar, and identify its significant predictors. A cross-sectional assessment of 307 community pharmacists was conducted with a pre-tested 20-item questionnaire.

Community pharmacists' management of minor ailments in developing countries: A systematic review of types, recommendations, information gathering and counselling practices.

Aims: To conduct a systematic review of the management of minor ailments by community pharmacists in developing countries, and to identify the specific minor ailments encountered, the medications recommended or requested and the information gathering and counselling practices.

Method: Observational studies from developing countries published in English language from inception to 2019 and report the management of minor ailments by community pharmacists were systematically searched in PubMed, ScienceDirect and Cochrane Library.

Results: Thirty full-text studies, out of 7876 retrieved and screened, were included in the systematic review.

Healthcare professionals' knowledge, attitude and acceptance of influenza vaccination in Saudi Arabia: a multicenter cross-sectional study.

Background: All healthcare professionals (HCPs) are at high risk of influenza infection. Therefore, immunization is recommended for all HCPs. Due to safety and effectiveness concerns, HCPs have a low vaccination rate.

Does personalized goal setting and study planning improve academic performance and perception of learning experience in a developing setting?

Objective: The learning process for pharmacists must enable the skillful harnessing of metacognition, critical thinking, and effective application of specialized skills. This study assessed the impact of self-developed academic goals and study plans on pharmacy students' academic performance and perception of learning experience in a developing setting.

Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted at the College of Clinical Pharmacy, King Faisal University, KSA, in a compulsory 4th year course (Pharmacy management).

Parental perceptions, attitudes and acceptance of childhood immunization in Saudi Arabia: A cross sectional study.

Objectives: The widespread availability and use of vaccines have tremendously reduced morbidity, mortality and health care costs associated with infectious diseases. However, parental beliefs about vaccination are one of the major factors in achieving high vaccination rates. Thus, this study aims to assess the perceptions and attitudes regarding routine childhood immunization among Saudi parents.

Does self-reflection and peer-assessment improve Saudi pharmacy students' academic performance and metacognitive skills?

Background: The patient-centered focus of clinical pharmacy practice which demands nuanced application of specialized knowledge and skills targeted to meeting patient-specific therapeutic needs warrant that the training strategy used for PharmD graduates must empower with the ability to use the higher level cognitive processes and critical thinking effectively in service delivery. However, the historical disposition to learning in the Middle East and among Saudi students appeared heavily focused on rote memorization and recall of memorized facts.

Objectives: To assess the impact of active pedagogic strategies such as self-reflection and peer assessment on pharmacy students' academic performance and metacognitive skills, and evaluate students' feedback on the impact of these active pedagogic strategies on their overall learning experience.

Frequency, types and factors associated with potentially harmful drug interactions in ambulatory elderly patients in Nigeria.

Objective: To determine the frequency, types and factors associated with potentially harmful drug interactions among ambulatory elderly (≥65 years) patients in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Methods: A 4-week cross-sectional study was conducted among 229 elderly patients who consented and were prescribed two or more medicines within a 4-week study period at a major 256-bed secondary care facility in Ibadan, Nigeria. Chi-square and risk ratio were used to identify the factors associated with the potentially harmful drug-drug interactions.

Anti-hypertensive medicines prescribing for medical outpatients in a premier teaching hospital in Nigeria: a probable shift of paradigm.

Background: Previous studies of anti-hypertensive medicines utilization pattern in Nigeria showed that Angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs) were often the least prescribed. However, the appropriate use of ACEIs in the black population achieves good blood pressure control and provides additional long term cardio- and renovascular protection benefits.

Objective: To assess the current utilization pattern of antihypertensive medicines with specific emphasis on identifying possible shift in the frequency of use of ACEIs.

Perceived medication use challenges and coping strategies among medical outpatients in Nigeria.

Background: The use of medicines is an action that involves a change in behaviour and it is a complex construct involving reciprocal interactions between social, environmental and cognitive factors. This is particularly true when a patient uses medicines for asymptomatic chronic conditions, requiring life-long use.

Objective: To identify patient-perceived medication use challenges, determine the coping strategies used and investigate the relationship between patient-perceived challenges and self-initiation of coping strategies.

Determinants of self medication practices among pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Objective: To assess the frequency and evaluate the factors underlining self-medication with orthodox and herbal medicines among pregnant women in Ibadan, Nigeria. Setting Antenatal clinics at the major antenatal care facility in Ibadan, south-western Nigeria.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study with a pre-tested 15-item structured questionnaire over a 12 week period among 1,650 pregnant women who attended antenatal clinics at a major antenatal care facility in Ibadan, south-western Nigeria.

Itinerant vending of medicines inside buses in Nigeria: vending strategies, dominant themes and medicine-related information provided.

Objective: To determine vending strategies and marketing themes employed by itinerant bus vendors, and assess the accuracy and completeness of information provided on medicines being sold in an urban setting in Nigeria.

Methods: Cross-sectional study and content analysis of itinerant vending of medicines inside buses recorded with a mobile telephone on purposively selected routes in a mega city with an estimated 18 million residents in southwestern Nigeria over a 2-month period. Two coders independently assessed 192 vending episodes by 56 vendors for 147 OTC and prescription medicines.

Frequency, types and severity of medication use-related problems among medical outpatients in Nigeria.

Objectives: To determine the frequency, types and severity of medications use-related problems among medical outpatients in a tertiary care setting in southwestern Nigeria.

Setting: Medical outpatient clinics of a 900-bed Teaching Hospital located in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria.

Methods: A prospective cross-sectional medication use review was conducted by ten pharmacists for 400 randomly selected medical outpatients over a 4 week period at a 900-bed premier teaching hospital located in Ibadan, Nigeria.

Pharmacists' participation in the documentation of medication history in a developing setting: An exploratory assessment with new criteria.

Objective: To assess the impact of pharmacists' participation on the frequency and depth of medication history information documented in a developing setting like Nigeria.

Method: The study consisted of two phases. The first phase was a baseline cross-sectional assessment of the frequency and depth of medication history information documented by physicians in case notes of systematic samples of 900 patients that were stratified over 9 Medical outpatients Units at a premier teaching hospital in south western Nigeria.

What probable factors underlie inadequacy of medication history information recorded in patients' case notes by physicians in a Nigerian teaching hospital?

Objective: To identify probable factors underlying inadequacy of medication history information recorded in patients' case notes by physicians in an ambulatory tertiary care setting in Nigeria.

Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted, with a pre-tested 25-item questionnaire, of 93 physicians at the nine medical units in the Department of Medicine at University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Key Findings: The overall response rate was 79.

Advertising of OTC products in a Nigerian urban setting: content analysis for indications, targets, and advertising appeal.

Objective: To identify the indications for which treatments were promoted, the segments of population targeted, and the type and extent of advertising appeal used for over-the-counter (OTC) products in a Nigerian urban setting.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, the content of advertisements for OTC products on radio, television, and billboards in a city in southwestern Nigeria were assessed during a 3-month period. Two coders independently assessed 1,492 advertisements for 49 brands of OTC products (interrater reliability [Cohen's kappa] = 0.

Adherence to anti-diabetic drug therapy and self management practices among type-2 diabetics in Nigeria.

Objective: To describe the pattern of anti-diabetic drug prescribing; ascertain the level of glycemic control, adherence with prescribed anti-diabetic medications, and diabetes self management practices among patients with type-2 diabetes in a tertiary care setting in Nigeria.

Setting: University College Hospital (UCH); a 900 bed teaching hospital with medical residents located in Ibadan, southwestern Nigeria.

Method: The study consisted of two phases.