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Objective The purpose of this study was to evaluate therapeutic outcomes in patients treated for iron deficiency anaemia and to analyse potential factors relevant to therapy success or failure. Methods Adult iron deficiency anaemia patients attending a primary care centre and prescribed at least 80 mg elemental iron per day were enrolled and followed up after duration of at least 5-8 weeks. Factors relevant to therapy success or failure were investigated. Results One hundred and seven patients were interviewed and 65 patients provided blood samples at follow-up. Thirty-seven patients (56.9%) were found refractory to iron therapy. More than half of patients reported having iron-related side effects (56.9%). Almost half of patients (47.7%) stated that they stopped iron therapy sometime during their follow-up period. Thirty patients (46.2%) stated that pharmacist educated them about iron therapy indication and usage and three patients (4.6%) stated that pharmacist educated them about drug -drug and drug -food interactions. Conclusion Response to iron therapy was suboptimal. There was no correlation between response to iron therapy and other studied factors such as gastrointestinal side effects, menstrual cycle history, past medical history of peptic ulcer, celiac disease or level of iron therapy education provided to patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aims: Determine the rate of glycaemic control among patients with type 2 diabetes treated in a university teaching family health centre and determine factors associated with glycaemic control. Methods: A family physician reviewed medical records of all type 2 diabetic patients aged 18 years or older, who attended the university medical centre of Jordan University of Science and Technology between September 2007 and December 2008. All relevant information were abstracted from medical records and filled in a special form. Results: Of the total 337 patients, 56.1% had HbA1c<7%. The mean HbA1c was 7.1%. About half (46.6%) achieved target blood pressure <130/80. Furthermore, half of the patients achieved the target levels of total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL. However, only 10.4% achieved the target level of LDL. In multivariate analysis only increased duration of disease (>5 years vs. ≤5 years) and type of treatment (insulin alone or combination therapy vs. oral therapy only) were significantly associated with increased odds of HbA1C>7%. Conclusions: More than half (56.1%) of diabetic patients had HbA1c values of less than 7%. Such finding highlight the importance of providing an organised care in managing diabetic patients in primary care setting and can be a base for further longitudinal studies to evaluate such care. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]