This study was launched to assess COVID-19-related knowledge, attitude and practice among hospital and community pharmacists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Self-administered questionnaire was distributed to pharmacists working in hospitals and community pharmacies by physically delivering the questionnaire to study subjects. Data collected were entered into and analyzed by IBM SPSS Statistics ® Version 25. Binary logistic analysis was used to determine the association between independent and outcome variables. Results: All 295 participants who completed the survey stated that they had heard about COVID-19. Almost all of the participants were aware of the causative agent, the clinical manifestations and the ways of transmission of COVID-19. Most participants (92.2%) identified elderly individuals as one of the high-risk groups for severe complications and death while 89.5% identified supportive therapy and life support as recommended management options to date. More than half (53.2%) of the respondents were found to have adequate knowledge about COVID-19. Among respondents, 89.8% had a positive attitude on the importance of following WHO recommendations in reducing the transmission of COVID-19. Only 9.8% had confidence in the capacity of healthcare facilities in the country to properly handle potential COVID-19 pandemic. Inadequate protective measures were taken to protect the staff from COVID-19 in the institutions of 70.2% of the participants. Among the WHO recommended prevention measures, hand washing was exercised by 97.3% of the study participants. Conclusion: The study findings confirmed that there is a high level of knowledge on each specific aspect of COVID-19 among the study participants. However, only about half of the participants had adequate knowledge about the disease. The pharmacists showed a predominantly positive attitude towards the importance of WHO recommendations and predominantly negative attitude towards the country's capacity to deal with the pandemic. The practice related to COVID-19 was inadequate at institutional level. Nevertheless, most of the pharmacists individually exercised self-protective measures against COVID-19. All stakeholders should work on ensuring the adequate supply of materials and services that aid in controlling the pandemic.

Background. Even though medications play a major role in the cure, palliation, and inhibition of disease, they also expose patients to drug-related problems. Drug-related problems are frequent and may result in reduced quality of life, morbidity, and mortality.Objectives.e study was aimed to identify, characterize, and resolve drug-related problems in the Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology ward of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods. A prospective observational study was conducted from 25 June to 25 October 2018 to assess DRPs on patients admitted at the pediatric hematology/oncology ward of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, which is the highest level governmental tertiary care hospital in Ethiopia. Data were obtained from patients' medical charts, physicians, patients/caregivers, pharmacists, and nurses. All the collected data were entered and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 25e. Descriptive statistics were used to represent the data. Results. Among the total 156 participants, DRPs were identified in 68.6% of the study subjects. Dosing problems which include dosage too low and high were the top ranking (39.3%) of all DRPs followed by needs additional therapy (27.2%) and nonadherence (14.0%). Systemic anti-infectives were the most common class of drugs involved in DRPs. Trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, methotrexate, vincristine, ondansetron, and metoclopramide were frequently involved in DRPs. e addition of drugs and change in drug dose were the two most proposed intervention types. Among the proposed interventions, 223 (92.15%) were fully accepted, 9 (3.72%) partially accepted, and 10 (4.13%) not accepted. Conclusion. DRPs are common among Pediatric Hematology/ Oncology ward patients. e hospital should develop a pediatric dosing chart for the commonly prescribed medications to prevent drug-related morbidity and mortality. e integration of clinical pharmacists can mitigate risks associated with DRPs.

The study was aimed to explore patient safety culture of community pharmacists working in Dessie and Gondar towns, Northern Ethiopia. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 st to 31 st March 2018. In this cross-sectional survey, the Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PSOPSC), developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), was used to collect data. PSOPSC is a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was distributed among staffs who work in community pharmacies of Dessie and Gondar towns. All staffs available on data collection period in the pharmacy were included. The Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software version 25 was used to enter and analyze the data. Results A total of 120 participants were approached and completed the questionnaire. Results from the study showed that high positive response rate was demonstrated in the domains of "Teamwork" (90.2%) followed by physical space and environment (83.1%). On the other hand, the result also identified that there is an enormous problem related to mistake communication (44.8%) and work pressure (45%). In addition, significant difference of percent positive responses were obtained across towns and staff working hours.

Background The emergence of chronic diseases as major causes of disability and death has necessitated the introduction of new strategies to effectively address the ever-changing nature of public health problems. As a result, the role of community pharmacies in promoting public health is growing in recent years through the provision of extended pharmacy services. This study was conducted with the aim of assessing community's extent of use and approval of extended pharmacy services at community pharmacies in Bonga town, Southwest Ethiopia. Materials and methods Community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Bonga town, Southwest Ethiopia, on households selected by systematic random sampling. Data was collected using semistructured questionnaire. Data was collected by personally delivering questionnaires to respondents in selected households. Results of the study were described by frequency, mean and standard deviation (SD). Binary logistic analysis was performed to identify potential associations between dependent and independent variables. Results Out of 356 individuals included in the study, 58.4% recalled visiting community pharmacy premises during the previous six months. Out of these, 34.6% visited the community pharmacies to get extended pharmacy services. College educated participants were 19.4 times more likely to have used extended pharmacy services as compared to illiterate individuals whereas those who earn monthly income more than 5000 Ethiopian Birr were 3.6 times more likely than those with monthly income of 2000 Ethiopian Birr or less. Of the total participants, 91.3% approved the provision of extended pharmacy services in community pharmacies.

Purpose: Benzathine penicillin G (BPG) monthly administration is the most effective method for secondary prophylaxis against acute rheumatic fever (ARF). BPG's efficacy largely depends on adherence to treatment. This study was aimed at assessing adherence to BPG prophylaxis and its determinants among adult patients with rheumatic heart disease. Patients and Methods: An institutional cross-sectional study design was used. One hundred and forty-five patients receiving monthly BPG at the Adult Cardiac Clinic of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH) were interviewed. Their 1-year BPG prophylaxis administration record was also reviewed. The rate of adherence to BPG injection was determined by calculating the percentage of the administered drug from the total expected doses. Data were entered and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 25. Both descriptive and logistic regression analyses were computed to describe different variables and assess factors associated with adherence, respectively. A p-value <0.05 was used to declare association. Results: Among a total of 145 study participants involved, the majority (76.6%) of them had been receiving BPG for the last 10 years. The average adherence rate to monthly BPG injection was 80.60% with a range of 0% to 100%. However, only 101 (69.7%) of participants were taking ≥80% of their prescribed monthly BPG prophylaxis doses. Study participants with informal education 1.10 (0.023-46.96) and secondary school education 0.89 (0.10-8.11) were more and less likely to adhere to BPG injection, respectively, when compared with those who attended higher education programs. The regression analysis showed patients who were not admitted to the hospital (AOR: 26.22; CI: 2.55-269.70; p=0.006) and once admitted patients (AOR: 50.08; CI: 2.87-873.77; p=0.007) were more likely to adhere to their BPG injections than those admitted twice or more. The study participants who waited until the next appointment were also less adherent (AOR: 0.02; CI: 0.00-0.13; p=0.000) than those who went a few days later for receiving the missed/late dose. Conclusion: The adherence rate to BPG injection among RHD patients was found to be high (80.60%). Patients' admission status and their action on missed and/or late doses were found to be important determinants of adherence in this study.

Objective This study aimed at assessing the management practice of febrile neutropenia (FN) in pediatric cancer patients at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH), Ethiopia by reviewing patients’ charts from 135 participants retrospectively. Data was entered into Epi-info 7 and exported to SPSS 20 for analysis. Results Empiric antibiotics therapy (EAT) was given to all patients in which ceftriaxone with gentamycin constituted of 71.8% followed by ceftriaxone monotherapy. EATs were converted to others in 20 (14.8%) and 2 (1.5%) patients for the first and second times respectively, mainly based on poor clinical response without conducting culture and sensitivity tests. These tests were done only for 13 (9.6%) participants and growth was seen in 5 patients; and definitive therapy was given for 2 patients. ANC value was above 500 cell/mm 3 in 80.7% of patients and 98.5% of study participants were afebrile after completion FN treatment. Most of them (70.4%) were treated for FN and 7 of patients died due to all case mortality. The hospital should not rely mainly only on ceftriaxone with gentamycin as EAT and should do culture and sensitivity test to optimize therapy based on susceptibility result before conversion and modification of therapy in management of FN.

Background Diabetes Mellitus is a complex, chronic disease that requires a coordinated management practice beyond blood glucose control. The disease causes chronic complications that affect the quality of the life of patients, place major pressure on the health-care system and cause a rise in diabetes-related mortality. Objective To determine the prevalence of chronic diabetes mellitus complications, related risk factors, and management practice among adult type 2 diabetes mellitus outpatients at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH). Methods A cross-sectional study design was carried out from July to September 2018. The pre-tested data abstraction format was used to gather demographic and clinical information. We also used a balance of weight measurement, upright placed meter for height measurement, waist circumference measurement meter and BP equipment. Statistical analysis was accomplished using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25 ® software. The significance level for statistics was set at p<0.05. Results In this study, 320 patients were involved. Of these, about 57% were female and had a mean age of 58 ±11.2 years. About 85% of the study participants had comorbidity and 42.5% had complications. Hypertension and neuropathy were the most common comorbidity and complication, respectively. The usage of vascular preventive medication among study participants was 74.7% and 55.3% for statins and ASAs, respectively. Participants in the study who had disease duration of 5–10 years (AOR=3.50, 95% CI: 1.19–10.28) and fifteen and above (AOR= 3.59, 95% CI: 1.36–9.49) were at higher risk of diabetes complication as compared to less than five years. Conclusion The prevalence of chronic complications was high among adult T2DM outpatients. The duration of disease and the number of medications used were the factors associated with chronic complications. The use of vascular preventive medications was low among study participants.

Introduction In cervical cancer therapy, there is a high prevalence of drug-related problems (DRPs) due to the high toxicity and complexity of most antineoplastic regimens. However, there is a paucity of data about DRPs among patients with cervical cancer in Ethiopia. Hence, the present study was aimed at investigating management practices and DRPs among patients diagnosed with cervical cancer. Methods A registry-based retrospective cohort study was employed among cervical cancer patients at the oncology center of Felege Hiwot Comprehensive Specialized Hospital (FHCSH). All patients with a histologically confirmed diagnosis of cervical cancer from January 2016 to December 2020 were included. Relevant information was recorded by reviewing medical records. The possibility of DRPs was evaluated by comparing with standard guidelines. Logistic regression analysis was employed. Results A total of 184 cervical cancer patients were included, with a mean age of 50.2±10.7 years. A total of 216 DRPs were identified from 93 cervical cancer patients, translating to a prevalence of 50.5% and a mean of 2.32±1.11 DRPs per patient. ADR (27.3%), DDI (25%), and the need for additional drug therapy (22.2%) were the most prevalent DRPs. DRPs were associated with the presence of co-morbidity (AOR = 4.23, 95% CI = 1.78–10.05, p = 0.001), complications (AOR = 2.99, 95% CI = 1.28–6.99, p = 0.011), being treated with ≥5 medications (AOR = 5.1, 95% CI = 2.38–10.95, p < 0.001), being stage II (AOR = 0.14, 95% CI = 0.02–0.90, p = 0.038), and stage III (AOR = 0.04, 95% CI = 0.01–0.32, p = 0.003). Conclusion Cisplatin-based chemotherapy was the frequently used therapeutic option. Co-morbidity and complication status, number of medication and stage of cancer were significantly associated with DRPs. The study highlights the need of clinical pharmacy services to optimize drug therapy and reduce DRPs.