This study was conducted as a PhD thesis by Korcegez under the supervision of Sancar for the clinical pharmacy program at Near East University, Health Sciences Institute, Northern Cyprus, and received no external funding. The authors have no potential conflicts of interest to report. Study concept and design were contributed by Korcegez, with assistance from Sancar and Demirkan. Korcegez took the lead in data collection, and data interpretation was performed by Korcegez, along with Sancar and Korcegez. The manuscript was written and revised by Korcegez, along with Sancar, and with assistance from Demirkan.

Patients with nosocomial pneumonia caused by Stenotrophomonas maltophilia often receive inadequate empiric antibiotic therapy, potentially increasing mortality. Knowledge of the risk factors associated with S. maltophilia pneumonia may better guide the selection of empiric antibiotic therapy. Potential risk factors for S. maltophilia pneumonia were retrospectively analyzed for critically ill trauma patients with late-onset gram-negative pneumonia. The effects of S. maltophilia infection and inadequate empiric antibiotic therapy on patient outcomes were also assessed. By multivariate analysis, S. maltophilia pneumonia was found to be associated with cefepime exposure and tracheostomy in patients with a single pneumonia episode and with higher Injury Severity Score and pulmonary contusion in patients with multiple pneumonia episodes. S. maltophilia pneumonia was associated with increased patient morbidity; only inadequate empiric antibiotic therapy was associated with a higher mortality rate. In critically ill trauma patients with late-onset ventilator-associated pneumonia and these risk factors, empiric antibiotic therapy should include agents active against S. maltophilia.

Aim To meet the current need in different European countries for improving prescribing in older adults, we aimed to create an update screening tool getting origin from the two user friendly criterion sets: the STOPP/STARTv2 criteria and CRIME criteria. Findings Based on thorough literature review, 55 criteria were added, 17 criteria were removed, and 60 criteria were modified. As a result, 153 TIME criteria composed of 112 TIME-to-STOP and 41 TIME-to-START criteria were introduced. Message TIME criterion set is an update screening tool reported from Eastern Europe that included experts from geriatrics and other specialties frequently giving care to older adults and some additional practical explanations for clinical use.

Tüm dünyada Koronavirüs (COVID-19), olguları ve bu hastalığa bağlı ölümler bildirilmiştir. Bir sağlık uzmanı olarak eczacılar COVID-19 hakkında doğru bilgilerin topluma iletilmesinde önemli rol üstlenmektedir. Bu çalışmada hastane eczacılarının COVID-19 hakkındaki bilgi ve tutumlarının değerlendirilmesi amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntemler: Çalışma kapsamında 7. Ulusal Hastane ve Kurum Eczacıları Kongresi'ne katılan hastane eczacılarına bir anket uygulandı. Bu ankette yer alan sorular, Türkiye COVID-19 Bilim Kurulu Kılavuzu (COVID-19 Kılavuzu) kullanılarak oluşturulmuştur. Bulgular: Çalışmada %72,6'sı kadın olmak üzere toplam 237 katılımcıya ait anket değerlendirilmiştir. Katılımcıların sırasıyla %60,3, %53,6, %53,2 ve %41,4'ünün bilgi kaynağı olarak en çok medyayı (televizyon, gazete), internet (bilimsel kaynaklar), interneti (bilimsel olmayan kaynaklar) ve sosyal medyayı kullandığı saptanmıştır. Katılımcıların COVID-19 ile ilgili bilgi ve tutumlarında yaşın ve kullandıkları bilgi kaynaklarının önemli etkisinin olduğu belirlenmiştir. Katılımcıların %72,6'sı korunma amaçlı cerrahi maske kullanmadığını bildirmiştir. Katılımcıların, hastalığın damlacıkla bulaştığı (%91,1) ve hastalığın genel semptomları (ateş; %92,4, öksürük; %84,4, solunum güçlüğü %60,3) konularında bilgi sahibi oldukları görülmüştür. Katılımcıların geneli tarafından, ileri yaşın (%84,8) ve eşlik eden hastalıkların (%80,2) COVID-19 için risk faktörü olduğunun bilindiği saptanmıştır. Hastalıktan korunmak için ellerin sabunla yıkanması (%92,0), el dezenfektanı kullanılması (%80,6), hasta kişilerle temasın önlenmesi (%81,9) sıklıkla belirtilen cevaplar arasında yer alsa da, katılımcıların %59,1'i N95 maske kullanımının da gerekli olduğunu belirtmiştir. Katılımcıların %43,9'unun tuzlu su ile burnu yıkamanın, hastalığı önlemede etkili olduğuna inandığı görülmüştür. Sonuç: Klasik medya ve sosyal medya toplumun ve sağlık profesyonellerinin tutumlarını etkilemektedir. Doğru bilginin sağlanması için medya araçlarını kullanmak, hastalığın yayılmasını önlemek ve kontrol etmek için önemlidir.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of clinical pharmacists' interventions on the adherence to dementia treatment and the caregivers' knowledge of dementia.Methods: This study was conducted at a geriatric outpatient clinic of the university hospital between October 2018 and April 2019. The Morisky Green Levine Adherence Scale (MGLS) to patients or caregivers and the Dementia Knowledge Assessment Tool Version Two (DKAT2) to caregivers were applied at the beginning of the study and 4 months later by a clinical pharmacist. After the scales were applied in the first interview, verbal information about the importance of adherence to dementia treatment, and incorrect answers of caregivers in DKAT2 were provided by the clinical pharmacist.Results: A total of 94 patients and 91 caregivers were included in the study. High adherence to treatment was determined in 70.2% of the patients in the first interview and in 95.7% in the second interview (P < 0.001). The mean score of DKAT2 was 15.53 AE 2.44 in the first interview, while the median score of DKAT2 in the second interview was 19.11 AE 1.25 (P < 0.001). Conclusion:The intervention of clinical pharmacists significantly increased the adherence to dementia treatment and the caregivers' knowledge of dementia. Close monitoring of dementia patients and caregivers by clinical pharmacists and collaboration with a multidisciplinary team play an important role in dementia care.

This study demonstrated the discordance between the theoretical knowledge and the practical performance of the health-care professionals in drug administration. In patients with feeding tubes, assessment of drug dosage forms by a pharmacist would be beneficial for appropriate administration and to prevent drug interactions.

Several studies have shown that a significant percentage of housestaff and attending physicians are deficient in both skill and knowledge of the metered-dose inhaler (MDI). There are no studies involving medical students, or any including the peak flow meter (PFM). The setting was a large health science center with investigators in private conference rooms with individual medical students. Twenty-two medical students in the last semester before graduation were scored in the use of these devices pre-education and post-education (instruction included both discussion and demonstration). Results revealed a lack of skill initially, followed by dramatic improvement after the intervention. The total number of correct steps for each device (MDI with spacer and PFM) improved significantly (p < 0.0001). This group of medical students was deficient in the use of common asthma devices. A short educational intervention was effective in improving skill.

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