Background and objectiveSelf-medication practice involves consumption of medicines by one’s own initiative or on the consultation of others without the guidance of a physician. Self-medication and use of over-the-counter drugs are prevalent worldwide public health concerns. University students of medical and nonmedical disciplines may have different levels of health education. This study evaluated the prevalence and patterns of self-medication and the attitudes toward this practice among medical and nonmedical university students in Jordan.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in 504 students (medical: 248 and nonmedical: 256). The students were invited to complete a questionnaire that included questions primarily related to patterns of physician visits, self-medication practice, symptoms provoking self-medication, and sources of advice.ResultsSelf-medication was highly prevalent and comparable between medical and nonmedical students (~96%). Headache (81.9%), cold (58.3%), and flu (53%) were the frequent symptoms provoking self-medication among students. Self-medication for headache (86.7% vs 77.3%) and tooth pain (53.1% vs 27%) was significantly higher among medical vs nonmedical students, respectively. Self-treatment with painkillers (82.3% vs 73%) or antiallergy (11.3% vs 5.9%) drugs was significantly higher among medical students, while the use of anti-flu decongestants (47.6% vs 60.2%) was lower compared to nonmedical students, respectively. Nonmedical vs medical students were significantly more dependent on friends (14.8% vs 7.7%) and own experience (7.4% vs 2.4%) as a source of self-medication advice.ConclusionSelf-medication is common among Jordanian university students of medical and nonmedical disciplines. This practice, if used irrationally, may constitute a health problem that needs awareness and interventions by health care regulators in Jordan. Future studies are warranted to examine the impact of self-medication on students’ health.

Purpose: This study aimed to identify factors correlating with hypertensive patients’ compliance with lifestyle recommendations in north of Jordan. Patients and methods: A cross-sectional survey and face-to-face interview methods were used to collect the data from 1000 adult Jordanian hypertensive patients (>18 years old). A questionnaire was developed based on previous literature and professional consultation. Results: Only 23% of the patients were fully compliant with healthy lifestyle behaviors. About 95% were knowledgeable on hypertension and 86% had positive beliefs about the management protocols of their disease. Gender, physician counseling on a healthy lifestyle, patients’ beliefs about hypertension management, and their knowledge on hypertension and its management have an independent effect on compliance with lifestyle recommendations. Conclusion: Patients’ compliance with lifestyle recommendations was low. Receiving counseling from physicians about healthy lifestyle and self-care; being informed about hypertension and its management; and having positive beliefs about managing this disease are significant predictors of patients’ compliance with lifestyle recommendations.

Introduction Overactive bladder (OAB) is a prevalent syndrome that is associated with multiple urinary tract symptoms and could affect the patient's quality of life and well‐being. Vitamin D is shown to be linked to OAB syndrome, which exacerbated by stress conditions. This study evaluated the relationship between vitamin D status, daily calcium intake and OAB, and the associated psychological symptoms. Methods The study included 55 patients with OAB and 129 healthy controls. Psychological symptoms were assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Serum vitamin D was measured. Patients with OAB with low vitamin D level received orally vitamin D supplementation. Urinary symptoms, psychological symptoms, and quality of life were evaluated before and after vitamin D supplementation plus dairy products. Results Vitamin D deficiency was more prevalent in cases (80%) vs controls (34.9%). Depression (43.7% vs 20.2%) and anxiety (52.8% vs 10.9%) scores (HADS, ≥8) were also more frequent in cases vs controls, respectively. Some 85.5% of the patients’ group had musculoskeletal pain vs 0.0% for the control. Depression was negatively correlated with daily calcium intake and positively with anxiety. Logistic regression analysis revealed that age, vitamin D, and anxiety scores were significant predictors of OAB. Vitamin D supplements with increased calcium intake had significant improvement in urinary symptoms, psychological distress, and quality of life. Conclusions Vitamin D supplements and improved calcium intake may improve urinary and psychological symptoms and quality of life among patients with OAB syndrome. Assessment for vitamin D status in patients with OAB may be warranted.

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BackgroundThe human multi-drug resistance gene (MDR1), which encodes the major trans-membrane transporter P-glycoprotein (P-gp), was found to be associated with susceptibility to cancer and response to chemotherapy. The C3435T Polymorphism of MDR1 gene was correlated with expression levels and functions of P-gp. Here, we studied the association between MDR1 C3435T polymorphism and susceptibility to Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and patient's response to ABVD chemotherapy regimen.Methodsa total of 130 paraffin embedded tissue samples collected from HL patients were analyzed to identify the C3435T polymorphism. As a control group, 120 healthy subjects were enrolled in the study. The C3435T Polymorphism was genotyped by polymerase chain reaction and restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Data analysis was carried out using the statistical package SPSS version 17 to compute all descriptive statistics. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were used to evaluate the genotype distribution and allele frequencies of the studied polymorphism.Resultsthese studies revealed that the frequency of T allele was significantly higher in HL patients compared to the controls (P < 0.05). In addition, the frequency of CT and TT genotypes were also significantly higher in HL patients compared to the controls (P < 0.05). No association between C3435T polymorphism and response to ABVD was detected among HL patients (P > 0.05).Conclusionsthese results suggest that MDR1 C3435T polymorphism might play a role in HL occurrence; however this polymorphism is not correlated with the clinical response to ABVD.

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Authorship represents a critical element of scientific research. This study evaluated the perceptions, attitudes, and practices of Jordanian researchers toward the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship criteria. An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to health sciences faculty ( n = 986), with 272 participants completing the questionnaire. Only 27.2% reported awareness of ICMJE guidelines, yet, 76.8% agreed that all ICMJE criteria must be met for authorship, and 55.9% believed that it is easy to apply the guidelines. Unethical authorship practices were reported by 16.5% to 31.3% of participants. A majority (73%) agreed that violation of authorship criteria is scientific misconduct. Well-defined criteria for authorship need to be disseminated and emphasized in less developed countries through training to avoid authorship disputes and unethical conduct.

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