Use of transdermal patches can evade many issues associated with oral drug delivery, such as first-pass hepatic metabolism, enzymatic digestion attack, drug hydrolysis and degradation in acidic media, drug fluctuations, and gastrointestinal irritation. This article reviews various transdermal patches available in the market, types, structural components, polymer role, and the required assessment tools. Although transdermal patches have medical applications for smoking cessation, pain relief, osteoporosis, contraception, motion sickness, angina pectoris, and cardiac disorders, advances in formulation development are ongoing to make transdermal patches capable of delivering more challenging drugs. Transdermal patches can be tailored and developed according to the physicochemical properties of active and inactive components, and applicability for long-term use. Therefore, a number of chemical approaches and physical techniques for transdermal patch development are under investigation.
Background and objectivesPractice-based research (PBR) is of pivotal importance for hospital pharmacists which not only up-grades the profession but also improves the patient care. This study aimed to evaluate the attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to PBR among hospital pharmacists in Pakistan.MethodsA descriptive, cross sectional study design was employed. Data were collected between 1st December, 2017 and 1st March, 2018 from 130 hospital pharmacists employed in 41 hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. A survey instrument comprising of six sections was designed to determine the attitude, perception, willingness, motivation and barriers to PBR. Data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 21.0, Armonk, NY: IBM Corp.). The normality of the data was determined through Shapiro-Wilks and Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests. Independent Samples Mann-Whitney U Test and Independent Samples Kruskal-Wallis Test were carried out to test if there were differences among the characteristics of the hospital pharmacists. Logistic regression analysis was used to figure out the factors associated with attitude, perceptions, willingness and motivation towards PBR. A p-value <0.05 was used for statistical significance of differences.ResultsA total of 141 pharmacists were approached. Among them, 130 responded to the survey (response rate 92%). Out of a maximum score i.e., 5 (100%) the respondents obtained a median score of 4 (IQR = 0) for attitude, perception and motivation towards PBR; whereas, a median score of 4 (IQR = 1) was obtained for willingness thus demonstrating fair positive attitude, good perceptions, increased motivation and willingness towards PBR. The most common barrier limiting the pharmacists’ participation in PBR was lack of time (23.8%) followed by lack of incentives (16.2%) and lack of support (14.6%). Results of the logistic regression analysis revealed that hospital pharmacists practicing in the inpatient settings had 4.56 times more positive attitude towards PBR (OR = 4.56, 95%CI = 1.07─19.42, p-value = 0.040) as compared to those practicing in the outpatient settings. The male hospital pharmacists (OR = 8.86, 95%CI = 1.15–53.74, p-value = 0.017), those practicing in the outpatient (OR = 23.51, 95%CI = 2.04─271.53, p-value = 0.011) and inpatient settings had increased motivation towards PBR (OR = 12.24, 95%CI = 1.61─94.66, p-value = 0.016).ConclusionDespite the presence of several barriers, the respondents had fair positive attitude, good perceptions, increased motivation and willingness towards PBR which is a promising finding.
Pectin is a polysaccharide with very good gel forming properties that traditionally has found important applications in foods and pharmaceutical industries. Although less studied, chemical modifications of pectin leading to a decrease in its hydrophilicity can be useful for the development of novel drug carriers. To this aim, butylglyceryl pectins (P-OX4) were synthesized via functionalization with n-butylglycidyl ether and subsequently formed into nanoparticles. Chromatographic, spectroscopic, and thermal analytical methods were employed to characterize the novel butylglyceryl pectins (P-OX4) obtained, prior to their formulation into nanoparticles via nanoprecipitation. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy confirmed a degree of modification in these materials in the range 10.4–13.6%, and thermal stability studies indicated an increase in both the thermal decomposition onset and glass transition temperature values (compared to those of the original pectin). An increase in the molecular weight and a decrease in the viscosity of P-OX4, when compared to the starting material, were also observed. The resulting nanoformulations were investigated in terms of particle morphology, size and stability, and it was found that particles were roughly spherical, with their size below 300 nm, and a negative zeta potential (−20 to −26 mV, indicating good stability). Having demonstrated the ability to load Doxorubicin at the level of 10%, their potential in drug delivery applications warrants further investigations.
Background and objectivesThe information technology is a pivotal source of communication between patients and healthcare providers for managing chronic diseases. The objective of this study is to assess the capacity and willingness of patients to use information technology for managing chronic diseases.MethodsA descriptive, cross-sectional study design was employed. Study was conducted in six tertiary care hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. The study population consisted of patients aged ≥18 years and diagnosed with a minimum of one chronic non-communicable disease. A structured questionnaire was administered to the study participants for data collection. SPSS was used for data analysis.ResultsAmong the 400 respondents, hypertension (39.5%) was the leading chronic condition followed by diabetes (27.5%). Majority of the patients owned a cell phone (90.7%) and had internet access (66.2%). Almost half of the respondents (51.0%) were willing to use text messages; whereas 78.5% and 75.7% of the respondents were reluctant to use video conference and e-mail as a source of communication with healthcare providers. Reason for unwillingness to use e-mail was the patients’ desire to be directly examined by the doctor; whereas unfamiliarity with the use of text message and video conference was the major reason for not using these technologies. Logistic regression analysis revealed that interest in using e-mail to interact with specialist was more among those participants who had good self-reported health (OR = 2.579, 95%CI = 1.276–5.212, p = .008), access to internet (OR = 5.416, 95%CI = 2.777–10.564, p < .001), and those who owned a cell phone (OR = 12.944, 95%CI = 1.751–95.704, p = .012). Interest in using text messages to interact with specialist was more among participants with middle-income group (OR = 2.303, 95%CI = 1.389–3.818, p < .001), residency in close proximity to healthcare professional (OR = 3.529, 95%CI = 2.333–5.339, p < .001), access to internet (OR = 3.253, 95%CI = 2.102–5.033, p < .001) and among those who owned a cell phone (OR = 46.709, 95%CI = 6.335–344.377, p < .001). Interest in using video conference to interact with specialist was more among those participants who had access to internet (OR = 5.840, 95%CI = 2.825–12.069, p < .001) and among those who owned a cell phone (OR = 11.177, 95%CI = 1.510–82.725, p = .018).ConclusionThis study concluded that nearly half of the respondents were willing to use text messages; whereas, majority was reluctant in using video conference and e-mail as a source of communication with healthcare providers. Most of the respondents who were located farther from the health care provider were willing to use video conferencing in case it could save more than 60 minutes of their time.
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