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The advances in digital health, including mobile healthcare (mHealth) medication adherence applications (MApps), have been demonstrated to support medication adherence and improve health outcomes. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge and perception of the MApps among pharmacists and pharmacy students. An online cross-sectional survey was conducted among 223 pharmacists and pharmacy students in the Jazan region of Saudi Arabia between 1st and 30th April 2023. The survey collected information about the participants' socio-demographics, knowledge, and perception of the MApps. Among the 223 participants included in the study, 105 (47.1%) were pharmacists and 118 (52.9%) were pharmacy students. Most participants were females (72.6%) and aged 18–30 (70.4%). About half of the participants had poor knowledge of the MApps [pharmacists (48.0%) and students (42.0%)] and mainly encountered Medisafe (18.1%) or Pills (17.0%) MApps, respectively. Pharmacy students showed significantly higher knowledge of MApps (p = 0.048), especially the Pills (p = 0.022) than pharmacists. However, the pharmacists had significantly higher knowledge of MyMeds (p = 0.001) than pharmacy students. Most participants had a positive perception of the usefulness of the MApps (pharmacists, 79.0%; students 80.0%). Notably, over 85% of the participants expressed willingness to know and provide guidance on MApps, with over 50% willing to recommend it to the patients. There was no significant difference in perception between the pharmacists and pharmacy students (p>0.05). In conclusion, the study demonstrates limited knowledge with a positive perception of mHealth medication adherence applications among pharmacists and pharmacy students. Integrating digital adherence tools like the MApps into pharmacy training could significantly improve professional practice mHealth competencies, and optimize healthcare delivery and patient outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Globally, over a million people commit suicide every year. Although suicide rates are more in high-income countries, many countries do not report suicide cases regularly to the World Health Organization (WHO). Therefore, this study aimed to determine the factor associated with suicide and self-harm in Pakistan. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted at Peoples Medical College Hospital (PMCH) in Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh, Pakistan, from July to December 2019. A total of 131 cases of suicide/self-harm were included using a convenience sampling technique. Data were collected on a predesigned questionnaire consisting of 14 close-ended questions. A chi-square test was used to determine the association between different categorical variables. Results: The majority of the subjects were males (53.4%), young adults aged between 16 and 30 years (69.5%), single (51.9%), and uneducated (57.3%). More than half (51.9%) of the subjects who attempted suicide or self-harm were unemployed. There was a significant association between education level (Χ² =13.149, P = 0.001) and age groups (Χ² = 15.554, P = 0.001) with health outcomes (suicide or self-harm) only. Moreover, gender (Χ² = 20.776, P = 0.004), marital status (Χ² = 69.047, P < 0.001), level of education (Χ² = 63.144, P < 0.001), age groups (Χ² = 69.848, P < 0.001), and employment status (Χ² = 28.677, P = 0.012) were also associated with the reasons of suicide and self-harm. Conclusion: Our study concluded that mostly single, unemployed males with low literacy and with marital and family issues are determined as factors associated with a high risk of self-harm and suicide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore knowledge, attitude, perceptions, and willingness regarding vaccination among university students in Pakistan. This cross-sectional study was carried out using an open online self-administered survey via Google Forms. The survey data were collected between the 15 to 30 of October 2022. A total of 946 respondents participated in the study, of which the majority were female (514, 54.3%). Most students belonged to a medical background, specifically pharmaceutical sciences. Most of the respondents did not know about monkeypox before 2022 (646, 68.3%). Regarding overall knowledge of monkeypox, most of the respondents had average knowledge (726, 76.7%), with very few having good knowledge (60, 6.3%). Regarding overall attitudes towards monkeypox, most of the respondents had neutral attitudes (648, 68.5%). There was a significant association between knowledge of Monkeypox with the type of academic degree (p < 0.001), type of discipline (p < 0.001), and region of respondents (p < 0.001). The willingness to vaccinate among the population was (67.7%). The current study pointed out that the overall knowledge of monkeypox was average in most respondents, with considerable knowledge gaps in most aspects. The overall attitude towards monkeypox was neutral. Further, the knowledge about monkeypox was strongly associated with academic degree, study discipline, and region of respondents. Our findings emphasize the need to raise public awareness by educating students on the monkeypox virus. This will improve adherence to preventative recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 patients with already existing chronic medical conditions are more likely to develop severe complications and, ultimately, a higher risk of mortality. This study analyzes the impacts of pre-existing chronic illnesses such as diabetes (DM), hypertension, and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) on COVID-19 cases by using radiological chest imaging. The data of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19-infected hospitalized patients were analyzed from March 2020 to December 2020. Chest X-ray images were included to further identify the differences in X-ray patterns of patients with co-morbid conditions and without any co-morbidity. The Pearson chi-square test checks the significance of the association between co-morbidities and mortality. The magnitude and dimension of the association were calibrated by the odds ratio (OR) at a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) over the patients' status (mortality and discharged cases). A univariate binary logistic regression model was applied to examine the impact of co-morbidities on death cases independently. A multivariate binary logistic regression model was applied for the adjusted effects of possible confounders. For the sensitivity analysis of the model, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) was applied. Patients with different comorbidities, including diabetes (OR = 33.4, 95% CI: 20.31-54.78, p < 0.001), cardiovascular conditions (OR = 24.14, 95% CI: 10.18-57.73, p < 0.001), and hypertension (OR = 16.9, 95% CI: 10.20-27.33, p < 0.001), showed strong and significant associations. The opacities present in various zones of the lungs clearly show that COVID-19 patients with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and obesity experience significantly worse outcomes, as evidenced by chest X-rays showing increased pneumonia and deterioration. Therefore, stringent precautions and a global public health campaign are crucial to reducing mortality in these high-risk groups., Competing Interests: Human subjects: Consent was obtained or waived by all participants in this study. Institutional Bioethics Committee certificate (IBC), University of Sindh, Jamshoro issued approval ORIC/SU/843. Institutional Bioethics Committee certificate (IBC) was issued by the Office of Research Innovation & Commercialization (ORIC), University of Sindh, Jamshoro, under letter no. ORIC/SU/843. Animal subjects: All authors have confirmed that this study did not involve animal subjects or tissue. Conflicts of interest: In compliance with the ICMJE uniform disclosure form, all authors declare the following: Payment/services info: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work. Financial relationships: All authors have declared that they have no financial relationships at present or within the previous three years with any organizations that might have an interest in the submitted work. Other relationships: All authors have declared that there are no other relationships or activities that could appear to have influenced the submitted work., (Copyright © 2024, Qureshi et al.)