@article {92, title = {Impact of Treatment on Asthma Control in Quetta Pakistan}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {9}, year = {2023}, month = {March 2023}, pages = {1-5}, type = {Original Article }, chapter = {1}, abstract = {

Background: Poorly controlled asthma may lead to decreased lung function, increase the risk of complications and more episodes of exacerbations, increased healthcare utilization, including more frequent hospitalizations and emergency room visits. Regular monitoring of asthma symptoms and lung function can help identify any potential issues in asthma control and ensure optimal management. Objectives: The study aims to assess the asthma control by the usage of asthma controller medications especially, corticosteroids, bronchodilators and leukotriene modifiers, among patients receiving treatment through well-validated questionnaire. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study with a sample of 361 was conducted in different public hospitals outpatient departments and clinics of Quetta Pakistan by using a convenience sampling technique. The Asthma Control Questionnaire (ACQ) was used to measure the asthma control of the asthmatic patients. The descriptive and inferential statistics have been done by using SPSS version 20 with a p value \<0.05. Results: The study found that an average score of asthma control was 3.1{\textpm}1.10 thereby indicating uncontrolled asthma with also 62.3\% of study participants had uncontrolled asthma, no patient had controlled asthma. An increased number of medications including the use of corticosteroids and leukotriene modifiers posed an impact on asthma control of the study population. Conclusion: The study concluded that corticosteroids and leukotriene modifiers can be effective in asthma control and it is suggested for the future studies that route of administration and treatment guidelines must also be determined along with the asthma control to gain a complete picture of impact of treatment and management on any health outcomes.

}, keywords = {Asthma Control, Asthma Control Questionnaire, Pakistan, Quetta, Treatment}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2023.1.1}, author = {Sadia Sehar and Noman-ul-Haq and Maria Tahir and Sohail Riaz and Aqeel Nasim and Muhammad Saood and Riffat Yasmin} } @article {49, title = {Knowledge and Awareness about Leishmaniasis Disease in the General Public of Quetta, Pakistan}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {7}, year = {2021}, month = {April 2021}, pages = {9-13}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {9}, abstract = {

Aim: This study attempted to assess knowledge and awareness about Leishmaniasis disease in Quetta city, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: This was a questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey where 387 study respondents were targeted using the non-probability convenience sampling method for data collection. SPSS v 22.0 was applied for data analysis and P<=0.05 was considered statically significant. The Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests were performed to discover the relationship among variables. Results: Most respondents were from the age group 18-27 years 269 (69.5\%) majority of whom were female 244 (64.0\%). Most of the respondents had improved knowledge (73.6\%), about the word Leishmaniasis, 50.6\% of respondents were aware of the signs and symptoms, 54.8\% of respondents were aware of the diagnosis, 64.3\% of respondents had improved knowledge about treatment, 62.5\% of the study population were aware of prevention and 40.8\% of study respondents knew about the vaccination for leishmaniasis. Conclusion: This study exposed an overall better knowledge and awareness among the public about leishmaniasis disease and its causative agents, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and vaccination.

}, keywords = {Awareness, Knowledge, Leishmaniasis disease, Pakistan, Public, Quetta}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2021.1.2}, author = {Tanzeel Ahmed and Sarmad Sheraz Jadoon and Muhammad Waqas and Muhammad Ammar and Liguo Jian and Qi Zhang} } @article {45, title = {Doctors{\textquoteright} Knowledge, Attitude and Objective Adherence with Hypertension Guidelines in Quetta, Pakistan: A Cross-sectional Analytical Study}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {January 2021}, pages = {57-63}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {57}, abstract = {

Background: There is scarcity of published information about doctors{\textquoteright} knowledge, attitude and adherence with hypertension guidelines from Pakistan. Objectives: To evaluate doctors{\textquoteright} knowledge, attitude and objective adherence with the recommendations of Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) developed by American Society of Hypertension/International Society of Hypertension. Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study included 95 doctors from various health care facilities in Quetta, Baluchistan to evaluate doctors{\textquoteright} knowledge of and attitude towards guidelines. Physicians{\textquoteright} endearment with ASH/ISH (2014) guidelines was evaluated by the prescriptions they wrote to 1900 hypertensive individuals (20 prescriptions of each enrolled doctor). Data was analysed using SPSS 20. Results: 58.9\% doctors had sufficient knowledge of guidelines. Doctors{\textquoteright} with specialization and consultants, doctors of age \>35 years and who were in clinical practice for \>5 years had significantly (p-value\<0.05) greater knowledge and more guidelines adherent practices than their counterparts. There was a significant association between doctors{\textquoteright} knowledge and practice scores. (rs=0.758, p-value \<0.001). Overall, doctors had positive attitudes towards guidelines. A total of 1385 (72.9\%) prescriptions were judged guidelines adherent. In multivariate analysis, guidelines adherence had statistically significant positive association with the presence of any comorbidity (OR=2.804, p-value\<0.001), heart failure (OR=5.101, p-value\<0.001), chronic kidney disease (OR=2.384, p-value\<0.001) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (OR=3.137, p-value=0.009) and negative association with diabetes mellitus (OR=0.265, p-value\<0.001). Conclusion: Only 58.9\% doctors were adequately aware of guidelines recommendations. A fair number of patients (72.9\%) received guidelines adherent prescriptions. Doctors{\textquoteright} poor knowledge of guidelines preferred antihypertensive agents in diabetic hypertensive patients reflected in their practices.

}, keywords = {Diabetes Mellitus, Duration of clinical practice, Guidelines adherence, Hypertension, Pakistan}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2020.4.17}, author = {Mirza Khan and Nafees Ahmed and Abdul Wahid and Syed Liaquat Ali Khan and Asad Khan and Zarka Akbar and Palwasha Bibi} } @article {25, title = {Public{\textquoteright} Perception, Awareness, Expectations and Experiences towards the Role of Community Pharmacists in Quetta City, Pakistan}, journal = {Journal of Pharmacy Practice and Community Medicine}, volume = {6}, year = {2020}, month = {April 2020}, pages = {05-09}, type = {Research Article}, chapter = {05}, abstract = {

Aim: The study is aimed to assess public perception, awareness, expectations and experiences towards the role of community pharmacists (CPs) in Quetta City, Pakistan. Methods: This was a questionnairebased, cross-sectional survey. Keeping the aim of the study in mind, a questionnaire was developed by the research team through mutual consensus, experience sharing and extensive literature review. By using an online calculator, 423 respondents were approached conveniently for the data collection. The SPSS v.20.0 was used for data coding and analysis. Based on the objectives of the study, descriptive statistics were applied for data analysis. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 30.61{\textpm}9.95 and males dominated the group (318, 75.2\%). Eighty-one percent of the respondents agreed that CPs provide consultation on how medicine works, identify and prevent errors and are good in explaining things to their level of understanding. Nearly 70\% of the respondents expected CPs to take personal responsibility for resolving drug-related problems, to educate them about the appropriate use of medicines and to monitor the response of drug therapy. All respondents were positive when they were asked about their expectations from the CPs. Respondents agreed that CPs are a reliable source of drug information and are important healthcare professionals (80.4 and 77.3\% respectively). Counseling was endorsed by 60\% of the respondents while CPs were held responsible for resolving drug problems. Conclusion: Although the study findings revealed certain limitations, study respondents had positive attitudes, experiences and constructive expectations towards CPs. The findings also indicated consumer preferences for the evolution of community pharmacist professional services in Pakistan.

}, keywords = {Awareness, Community pharmacist Quetta city, Expectations, Experiences, Pakistan, Public{\textquoteright} perception}, doi = {10.5530/jppcm.2020.1.3}, author = {Kashif Kamran and Qaiser Iqbal and Sajjad Haider and Muhammad Anwar and Rabia Ishaq and Fahad Saleem} }