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Objectives: This study aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the hospitalization pattern of nervous system diseases from 1999 to 2019. Methods: This is ecological research based on data from the Hospital Episode Statistics database in England and the Patient Episode Database in Wales, both of which are publicly available. Data on hospital admissions were collected between April 1999 and March 2019. Diagnostic codes (G00–G09: inflammatory diseases of the central nervous system, G10–G14: systemic atrophies primarily affecting the central nervous system, G20–G26: extrapyramidal and movement disorders, G30–G32: other degenerative diseases of the nervous system, G35–G37: demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system, G40–G47: episodic and paroxysmal disorders, G50–G59: nerve, nerve root and plexus disorders, G60–G65: polyneuropathies and other disorders of the peripheral nervous system, G70–G73: diseases of myoneural junction and muscle, G80–G83: cerebral palsy and other paralytic syndromes, and G89–G99: other disorders of the nervous system) from the tenth edition of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision (ICD-10) were used to identify hospital admissions. A Poisson model was used to examine the trend in hospital admissions. Results: During the study period, hospital admission rate increased by 73.5% (from 474.44 (95% CI 472.58–476.31) in 1999 to 823.37 (95% CI 821.07–825.66) in 2019 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 0.01). The most prevalent diseases of the nervous system hospital admissions causes were episodic and paroxysmal disorders, nerve, nerve root, and plexus disorders, and demyelinating diseases of the central nervous system which accounted for 37.4%, 22.1%, and 9.3%, respectively. Hospital admission rate between females increased by 79.1% (from 495.92 (95% CI 493.25–498.58) in 1999 to 888.33 (95% CI 884.97–891.68) in 2019 per 100,000 persons). Hospital admission rate between males was increased by 67.5% (from 451.88 (95% CI 449.28–454.49) in 1999 to 756.82 (95% CI 753.69–759.96) in 2019 per 100,000 persons). Conclusion: In the United Kingdom, hospital admissions for diseases of the nervous system are on the rise. Future research is needed to identify high-risk groups and suggest effective interventions to reduce the prevalence of these disorders.

Background Medication use assessment has a critical role in promoting the effective and rational use of pharmaceutical medications. There are no studies that have explored the utilization of all medications in England and Wales in the past 15 years without restrictions in the age group being studied or class of medications. Aim To explore the medication utilization pattern of dispensed medications in England and Wales in the past 15 years. Method A secular trend analysis study using publically available dispensing data on the population level in England and Wales for the duration between 2004 and 2019. Medication dispensing data was extracted from the Prescription Cost Analysis database. Results Medication prescriptions rate increased by 42.6% [from 1,345,095.75 (95% CI 1,345,004.25 – 1,345,187.26) in 2004 to 1,918,138.48 (95% CI 1,918,038.38 – 1,918,238.57) in 2019 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 0.001]. During the study period, the most common medication prescriptions were for the cardiovascular system, central nervous system, and endocrine system, which accounted for 30.2%, 18.8%, and 9.4%, respectively. The rate of medication prescriptions for skin, immunological products and vaccines, infections, and musculoskeletal and joint diseases decreased by 18.4%, 15.8%, 9.8%, and 5.7%, respectively. Conclusion The last two decades have witnessed a remarkable rise in the quantity of medications dispensed in community settings. Utilization of chronic disease medications has increased in the past 15 years, specifically, dispensed medications for the cardiovascular system, central nervous system, and endocrine system. It is necessary to conduct additional cohort studies to investigate the clinical outcomes and prescribing safety of these medications. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-022-01853-1.

Objectives: To analyze the role of pharmacists during the COVID-19 pandemic, to measure pharmacists’ attitude toward COVID-19 safety measures (wearing masks, wearing gloves, isolation shield, good hygiene, etc.), and explore their perspectives regarding a second wave of the virus. Methods: This cross-sectional online survey study was conducted in Jordan during the COVID-19 outbreak in July 2020 to discuss Jordanian pharmacists’ awareness of safety at their workplace during the COVID-19 outbreak, their sources of information, and their predictions for COVID-19 vaccination. Results: The participants (n = 311) were all pharmacists mostly aged between 23–30 years old (45%) and female (83%). The primary source of information about COVID-19 was social networking (38.9%). Pharmacists were committed to social distancing (86.5%) and wearing masks (76.2%). They expressed levels of agreement to their role in decreasing COVID-19 spread (94.2%) and correcting false information (94.5%); they expressed levels of expectation toward concern about a second COVID-19 wave (83%) that would be more severe than the previous one (43.4%). Pharmacists expected that an influenza vaccine might be helpful in decreasing severity and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic (56.9%). Pharmacists expected COVID-19 vaccine development within 6 months of administering our study survey (84.9%) and that vaccination might be effective in preventing COVID-19 (93%) infection. Conclusion: Pharmacists expressed positive roles on COVID-19 spread through exemplary actions, self-commitment to protection measures, and public health awareness. Social media as a source of health information should be cautiously investigated, and pharmacists should always refer to evidence-based sources. The role of pharmacists is particularly important for the upcoming era of COVID-19 vaccination administration and awareness.

BackgroundNon-malignant hematologic and immune disorders-related hospitalization trends are unstudied despite their importance from a public health standpoint. Therefore, this study aimed to define the hospitalization trends of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases-10 (ICD-10) category diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs and certain disorders involving the immune mechanism (B&ID). MethodsWe conducted an ecologic study to analyze hospital admission data obtained from England's Hospital Episode Statistics database and Wales' Patient Episode Database. Hospital admissions data for nonmalignant hematologic disorders and immune disorders were extracted for the period from April 1999 to March 2019. We used the Poisson model to assess trends in hospital admissions. ResultsThe total annual B&ID-related hospital admission (RHA) rate for all categories increased by 137.9% between 1999 and 2019 (p<0.01). Females accounted for 54% of all B&ID-RHA. Around 37% of B&ID-RHA were seen in the age group of 15-59 years and 29% in the age group of 75 years and above. The most common causes of B&ID-RHA were aplastic and other anemias and other bone marrow failure syndromes, ICD-10 category (33%) and nutritional anemias category (28%). Certain disorders involving the immune mechanism category accounted for the least number of B&ID-RHA (8.4%). The highest increase in B&ID-RHA was seen in the nutritional anemias category (3.86 fold), followed by certain disorders involving the immune mechanism (1.28 fold). Iron deficiency anemia accounted for 95.1% of all hospitalizations secondary to nutritional anemias. Around half of all, hemolytic anemia category hospitalizations were secondary to the sickle cell anemia subcategory. ConclusionsHospital admissions trends in non-malignant hematologic and immune disorders changed dynamically among age groups and gender in England and Wales over the last two decades. Understanding these changes has important implications for public health planning.

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Objective: To measure participants’ satisfaction with community pharmacists’ pharmaceutical services during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Methods: This study was cross-sectional. Google Forms was used to create a survey. Social media was used to spread the survey. Questions were designed to measure the goals; a scale was used to measure the level of participant satisfaction. Measures: This survey was designed to measure the community opinion of pharmacists’’ role, commitment to safety measures, counseling during the pandemic, and their help in spreading scientific information regarding this virus; during the pandemic and then 8 months after the pandemic was declared. Data sets were compared, and the results were analyzed. Results: One-thousand-one-hundred-fifteen people participated in this study; 575 at the beginning and 540 at 8 months after the initial outbreak. Significant differences were found: pharmacists’ commitment to wearing gloves was less after 8 months (p < 0.001); pharmacists had a better role in explaining the difference between flu and COVID-19 infection after 8 months; satisfaction with pharmacists’ commitment to safety rules was significantly less after 8 months (p = 0.003). Conclusion: The observed high level of participant satisfaction reflects the pharmacists’ efforts. But pharmacists must follow the scientific evidence that supports the proper wearing and removal of gloves. We also found that counseling has been associated with improvement in participants’ opinions about pharmacists’ information.

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the protective measures taken by the Jordanian population in order to decrease the risk of the first cardiovascular event using Framingham score risk classification to assess cardiac event risk. Methods: Several nationally representative models of adult Jordanians were recruited in this study. Demographic data and anthropometric parameters were documented. Framingham risk score was calculated. Accordingly, cardiac event risk has been determined. Google form was created to generate a survey. Social media was utilized to extend the survey. Key findings: As expected, taking lipid lowering medications has decreased the Framingham score significantly, patients with high HDL value have lower Framingham score. Significant difference in Framingham score between diploma and patients with high school or less education level p-value 0.043. There was a significant difference in Framingham score between nonsmokers and sometimes smokers. The study revealed that 90% of the participants were having low risk for developing CVD, 5% were at intermediate risk and 5% were at high risk for developing CVD. This was expected as the average age was between 20-30 years. Conclusion: This study presented no advantage and even some harm because of consuming daily low-dose aspirin in some groups of people formerly thought to benefit from such treatment. This new piece of information applies to patients who do not have identified cardiovascular disease. If you have not had one of the above situations or events and are older than 70 years, younger than 40 years, or at higher danger of bleeding because of a medical condition or treatments, you should not consume aspirin for principal prevention of heart disease. If you are between 40 and 70 years old, at decreased risk of bleeding, and thought to be at increased risk of heart disease, you might get advantage from using aspirin.