Effectiveness of blended learning in pharmacy education: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background & Objective: Though blended learning (BL), is widely adopted in higher education, evaluating effectiveness of BL is difficult because the components of BL can be extremely heterogeneous. Purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of BL in improving knowledge and skill in pharmacy education.

Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus and the Cochrane Library were searched to identify published literature.

Availability, price and affordability of essential medicines for managing cardiovascular diseases and diabetes: a statewide survey in Kerala, India.

Objective: Limited access to essential medicines (EMs) for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes is a major concern in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to generate data on availability, price and affordability of EMs for CVD and diabetes in India.

Methods: Using WHO/HAI survey methodology, we evaluated availability and prices of 23 EMs in 30 public sector facilities (government hospitals and semi-public/government-subsidised-discount-pharmacies (GSDPs)) and 60 private retail pharmacies across six districts in Kerala state, India (November 2018 - May 2019).

Effects of sedative-hypnotics on sleep quality among patients with insomnia: evidence from an observational, pre-post study in India.

Background: Insomnia continues to be neglected globally, despite its high prevalence. Guidelines by the health regulatory agencies call for studies to evaluate the effect of sedative-hypnotics on sleep quality.

Methods: We conducted a pre-post observational study to evaluate sleep quality among 186 inpatients receiving short-term oral sedative-hypnotic therapy in a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kozhikode (Kerala), India.