International journal of clinical pharmacy
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Smoking is a major public health problem in Qatar. The potential for community pharmacists to offer smoking cessation counseling in this country can be high. ⋯ Qatar community pharmacists have positive attitudes toward smoking cessation counseling. These attitudes need to be translated into action. Interventions should be implemented to overcome perceived barriers and to improve smoking cessation activities among pharmacists.
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Storage and disposal of unused medications: knowledge, behavior, and attitudes among Serbian people.
Improper disposal of medications potentially poses a significant environmental risk and storage of expired and unused medications in households provides an increased risk of accidental childhood poisonings. ⋯ Public services in Serbia, including government and health sectors, need to be more proactive about educating people on how to store and dispose medications, as well as finding a way for implementation of the law on medications wastage destruction.
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Pharmacists' involvement in outpatient dialysis centres in Australia is currently limited, despite the positive contribution of pharmacists to renal patients' medication management and health outcomes outlined in the literature. An expanded role for pharmacists in this setting may be required as a consequence of the increasing burden of renal disease in the population. ⋯ Pharmacists showed positive attitudes, favourable subjective norm and strong perceived behavioural control, which originated a clear behavioural intention to develop pharmacy services in outpatient dialysis centres. The potential barriers and enablers outlined should be taken into account, as well as the holistic approach for the successful implementation of cognitive pharmacy services.
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Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) have been shown to reduce the need for red blood cell (RBC) transfusions and to improve quality of life for cancer patients with anaemia. However, increased risks of mortality and disease progression have been reported when using ESAs with excessive target haemoglobin levels. In 2007, the United States Food and Drug Administration and Korea Food and Drug Administration issued regulatory alerts for using ESAs in cancer patients. ⋯ During the last 5 years, the number of ESA doses dispensed at SNUH decreased and the number of RBC transfusions at SNUH increased, independent of the number of patients. The reduction in ESA use was thought to be due to the release of the safety alert letter in 2007. However, this study did not analyse other risk factors that may have influenced the number of RBC transfusions (e.g. metastatic cancer, comorbidities, surgery). Still, the results of this study suggest that the decreased ESA doses were relevant to the increased RBC transfusions.
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Patients at risk of experiencing medicine-related problems do not always appear willing to participate in collaborative medication management services. Little is known about the psycho-social factors which motivate patients to participate in these services. The theory of motivated information management (TMIM) suggests that patients' willingness to participate may be motivated by their uncertainty and worry about their medicines. ⋯ Worry about medicines is a key factor in motivating participants to engage in medicines information-seeking. Older persons who rely heavily on heuristics appeared less likely to worry about their medicines and willing to participate in medication management services. Age-related reduction in the motivation to participate may have important implications for medication safety. Further examination of this effect is warranted because older persons are at greatest risk of medicine related problems.