Nonadherence to antiseizure medications: what have we learned and what can be done next?

Introduction: Nonadherence to antiseizure medications (ASMs) is associated with increased mortality, morbidity, health care utilization, and costs.

Areas Covered: This article reviewed 18 randomized controlled trials published between Jan 2010 and Feb 2024 on Medication Adherence Enhancing Intervention (MAEI) for people with epilepsy. The adequacy of reporting intervention development process was assessed using the GUIDance for the rEporting of intervention Development (GUIDED).

Improving medication dispensing and counselling for patients with vision impairment: a qualitative study of pharmacist-reported barriers and facilitators.

Background: People with vision impairment encounter many difficulties when it comes to medicines use. However, evidence indicates that there are major gaps in pharmaceutical care service provision worldwide and limited research on interventions to optimise medication use for this patient population. The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) provides a method for theoretically understanding individuals' behaviour and informing development of interventions.

Quality of Life, Fatigue, and Physical Symptoms Post-COVID-19 Condition: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study.

The magnitude of post-COVID-19 syndrome was not thoroughly investigated. This study evaluated the quality of life and persistence of fatigue and physical symptoms of individuals post-COVID-19 compared with noninfected controls. The study included 965 participants; 400 had previous COVID-19 disease and 565 controls without COVID-19.

Patient preferences for epilepsy treatment: a systematic review of discrete choice experimental studies.

Background: This review aimed to 1) identify and assess the quality of discrete choice experiments (DCEs) examining preferences related to epilepsy treatment; 2) summarize the attributes and attribute levels measured in these studies; 3) identify how researchers selected and developed these attributes; and 4) identify which attributes are most important for epilepsy patients.

Methods: A systematic literature review using PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases from database inception to February or April 2022. We included primary discrete-choice experiments eliciting preferences for various attributes of pharmacological and surgical interventions in patients diagnosed with epilepsy or the parents/carers of children with epilepsy.

Economic evaluation of interventions to improve medication adherence among patients with chronic diseases: an overview of systematic reviews.

Introduction: This overview aimed to find, assess, and synthesize systematic reviews that compared the cost-effectiveness of interventions designed to improve medication adherence among patients with chronic disease.

Areas Covered: PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, and Center for Review and Dissemination were searched. The quality of the included reviews was assessed using two validated checklists.

Feasibility of using simulated patients for onsite structured practice feedback in Jordanian community pharmacy settings.

Simulated patient (SP) visits followed with structured feedback is useful to outline training needs as well as preference for continuing professional education in community pharmacy settings. This study aimed to investigate community pharmacists' management of an over-the-counter (OTC) product request and feasibility of immediate SP feedback in Jordan. Four trained SP visited a sample of pharmacies in three main urban cities in Jordan requesting an antacid.

The Prevalence of Psychological Distress and Its Relationship to Sleep Quality in Saudi Arabia's General Population During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Background: We aimed to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated mitigation measures on sleep quality and psychological distress in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: Subjective sleep quality over the preceding 30 days was measured using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). In addition, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10) was used to assess the psychological distress.

Assessing content and factors influencing responses to information requests in community pharmacies in Jordan: A simulated patients study.

Objectives: To assess the management of requests for information about a prescription only medicine (simvastatin for treatment of dyslipidemia) by pharmacy staff in community settings and explore the factors influencing the information content.

Methods: A cross sectional study conducted using the stimulated patient (SP) method between November 2018 and May 2019. The SP conveyed the request at the beginning of the encounter in a standardized way based on predetermined plots and was instructed to ask the pharmacy staff directly if information was not discussed spontaneously.

Impact of COVID-19 on the 937 Telephone Medical Consultation Service in Saudi Arabia.

The impact of COVID-19 on healthcare services has been profound. One major impact has been underutilization of traditional healthcare services by patients. In 2020, the Saudi Ministry of Health (MoH) started offering general COVID-19 enquiries, education, and medical and psychological consultations around the clock via their 937-Call Center.

Patient-reported outcome measures in Arabic-speaking populations: a systematic review.

Purpose: This research aimed, first, to identify, summarize, and synthesize the studies reporting the development, translation, and/or psychometric evaluation of PROMs in Arabic-speaking populations and, second, to evaluate the psychometric properties and the translation process of a sample 26 PROMs.

Methods: In 2019, PubMed, Web of Science, and SCOPUS were searched for studies reporting the development, translation, or cross-cultural adaptation of patient-reported outcome measures in Arabic-speaking populations, and those including the assessment of one or more psychometric properties as PROMs (including validity, reliability, responsiveness, interpretability) in our target populations were included. The review protocol registration number is CRD42018088991.

Cancer Impacts on Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Income Loss, and Informal (Unpaid) Care: A Cross-Sectional Study of Patient Perspective.

A paper-based questionnaire was used to measure out-of-pocket expenses, income loss, and informal (unpaid) care from the cancer patient's perspective. A total of 181 adult solid cancer patients on chemotherapy for at least 3 months were recruited from 1 teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The majority were female (66%) and 41% were 60 years of age or older.

The Institute for Medical Technology Assessment Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ) and the Medical Consumption Questionnaire (iMCQ): Translation and Cognitive Debriefing of the Arabic Version.

The aim of this study was to translate the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment Productivity Cost Questionnaire (iPCQ) and the Medical Consumption Questionnaire (iMCQ) from English into Arabic and perform cognitive debriefing in a Saudi Arabian setting. We conducted the translation according to guidelines, including two independent forward translations and a backward translation. Cognitive debriefing was carried out in two stages.

The Impact of Quarantine on Sleep Quality and Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: We investigated the impact of isolation on sleep quality and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic in Saudi Arabia.

Methods: An online survey was conducted on 353 (88 isolated and 265 not isolated) individuals from May to June 2020. Subjective sleep quality was determined using the Pittsburgh sleep quality index (PSQI), and psychological distress measured using the Kessler psychological distress scale (K10).

Barriers and facilitators to conducting economic evaluation studies of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: a survey of researchers.

Background: The number of published economic evaluations of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries is notably scarce. Limited local evidence could have a major impact on the implementation of economic evaluation recommendations in the decision-making process in GCC countries. Little is known about the factors affecting researchers who seek to conduct economic evaluations.

A Systematic Review of Sources of Outcomes and Cost Data Utilized in Economic Evaluation Research Conducted in the Gulf Cooperation Council.

Background: Transparency and clarity in reporting of methods used to identify, measure, and value outcomes and resources in published economic evaluations is crucial.

Objective: The aims of this review were to identify and assess the quality of published economic evaluation studies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, with a specific focus on methods used to identify, measure, and value cost and outcomes data.

Methods: An electronic search of publications from 2009 to October 2019 was performed in three clinical (Medline, Scopus, and EMBASE) and one economic (NHS EED) databases.

Barriers to and Facilitators of Adherence to Clinical Practice Guidelines in the Middle East and North Africa Region: A Systematic Review.

The current review aims to investigate the barriers to and facilitators of the adherence to clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. English language studies published between January 2010 and May 2019 were searched on PubMed, Embase, and EBSCO. The barriers were categorized as clinician-related factors, such as lack of awareness of familiarity with the CPGs, and external factors, such as patients, guidelines, and environmental factors.

Strategies for improving adherence to antiepileptic drug treatment in people with epilepsy.

Background: Poor adherence to antiepileptic medication is associated with increased mortality, morbidity and healthcare costs. In this review, we focus on interventions designed and tested in randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and quasi-RCTs to assist people with adherence to antiepileptic medication. This is an update of a Cochrane review first published in 2011, and last updated in 2017.

International collaboration in pharmacy practice research: A bibliometric analysis.

Background: Although international collaborative research has demonstrated a series of benefits in different scientific disciplines, there is no information regarding international collaborative practices in pharmacy practice research.

Objectives: To map international collaborations published in pharmacy practice research journals between 2009 and 2018.

Methods: A set of pharmacy practice journals was objectively selected from a previously published mapping of pharmacy journals.

Medication safety problems priorities in community pharmacy in Saudi Arabia: a multi-stakeholder Delphi study using the human factors framework.

Aim: To achieve multi-stakeholder consensus and prioritisation of medication safety problems in community pharmacies in Saudi Arabia.

Design And Intervention: A theoretically-underpinned, three-round Delphi study.

Setting: Saudi Arabia.

A systematic review of pharmacists' interventions to support medicines optimisation in patients with visual impairment.

Background People with visual impairment often report poorer health and encounter many challenges when using medicines. Pharmacists can play a significant role in optimising medicines use for these patients. However, little is known about pharmacists' current practices when providing services to this population nor the impact of such services, if any, on medicines optimisation-related outcomes.

Effectiveness of drug interventions to prevent sudden cardiac death in patients with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction: an overview of systematic reviews.

Objectives: To summarise and synthesise the current evidence regarding the effectiveness of drug interventions to prevent sudden cardiac death (SCD) and all-cause mortality in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Design: Overview of systematic reviews.

Data Sources: MEDLINE, Embase, ISI Web of Science and Cochrane Library from inception to May 2017; manual search of references of included studies for potentially relevant reviews.

Using the Human Factors Framework to understand the origins of medication safety problems in community pharmacy: A qualitative study.

Background: Community pharmacy practice in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) faces many challenges. In KSA, there is a lack of empirical research about medication safety in this setting.

Objective: To explore the safety problems associated with medication supply from community pharmacies in KSA and compare different stakeholder perspectives.

Assessing the level of knowledge and available sources of information about hepatitis C infection among HCV-infected Egyptians.

Background: Egypt has the largest proportion of hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection worldwide and there is an urgent need to increase community awareness and knowledge about the disease in the country. The main aim of this study was to assess the level of knowledge and awareness about HCV in clinically diagnosed HCV patients in Egypt.

Methods: This was a prospective, cross-sectional study conducted between 1 February 2014 and 30 April 2014 in Cairo, Egypt using validated questionnaire as an instrument for data collection.

Health technology assessment in Saudi Arabia.

Introduction: The Saudi government, similar to any other government, is committed to making public spending more efficient, using resources more effectively, and limiting waste. Health technology assessment (HTA) is a tool that informs policy and decision makers regarding the formulation of safe and effective policies that are patient-focused and help to achieve efficiency when allocating limited health-care resources.

Areas Covered: After a brief description of HTA in the international context, this review provides a brief introduction to Saudi Arabia's health-care system, followed by a delineation of the decision maker(s) and influencers and the decision-making process for pricing and reimbursement.

The impact of a pharmacist-led educational interview on medication adherence of Saudi patients with epilepsy.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of a pharmacist-led educational interview in terms of adherence to antiepileptic drug administration among adult patients with epilepsy.

Method: Sixty adult patients with epilepsy who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were recruited. A pharmacist-led educational interview was conducted with the intervention group (n=30).