Polypharmacy among older patients has been associated with a decline in their quality of life. We aimed to assess the medication-related quality of life (MRQOL) among older patients with polypharmacy at Gondar University Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia. A prospective cross-sectional study was carried out among 150 elder patients who had visited the internal medicine ward and ambulatory ward of Gondar referral hospital from March 25 to May 15, 2017, using a validated scale, Medication-Related Quality of Life Scale version 1.0 (MRQoLS-v1.0). A total of 150 older patients with polypharmacy participated in the study with a mean age of 70.06±5.12, andtwo-thirds of the participants (67.3%) were female. The overall prevalence of poor quality of life due to polypharmacy in the current study was found to be three fourth (75.3%) of the participants. Regarding the severity of impairment in MRQoL, Univariate analysis revealed that frequency of hospital visits (COR = 1.34, 95% CI, 1.02–1.77) and medication number (COR = 1.94, 95% CI, 1.33, 2.8) had a statistically significant positive association with the likelihood of having a severe impairment.The multivariate analysis also showed that one unit increase in the number of hospital visits (AOR = 1.45, 95% CI, 1.040–2.024) and medications greater than 5 (AOR = 1.91, 95% CI, 1.29, 2.84) increases 1.45 and 1.91 times the likely hood of posing severe impairment of MRQoL, respectively. As far as poor MRQoL quality of life is concerned, multivariate analysis did not show any significant association between the poor MRQoL;and Sociodemographic and clinical data of patients. The poor QoL associated with medication was very high in this study. Deprescribing should be sought by the health care providers to optimize drug therapy and minimize the polypharmacy related poor quality of life.

Background: Despite the growing burden of heart failure in developing countries, data describing the clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of acute heart failures are limited. Therefore, this study aimed at describing the clinical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes of acute heart failure patients admitted to the medical ward of University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia. Methods: A prospective observational hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 226 patients with acute heart failure at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from November 2019 to October 2020. Data were collected by using a pretested data abstraction format and analyzed with Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 21. Bivariable and multivariable binary logistic regression model were fitted to identify factors associated with in-hospital outcome and reported with 95% confidence interval (CI). P-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: The mean (± standard deviation) age of the study participant was 51.17±19.03 years and 59.3% were females. Majority, 60.6% of patients were admitted with new onset heart failure. Dyspnea (88.05%) and peripheral edema (80.5%) were the most frequent clinical findings. The in-hospital mortality was 10.6% (95% CI: 7.1-14.7). Atrial fibrillation (AOR=9.46; 95% CI: 1.49-60.29), concurrent ischemic heart disease (AOR=8.23; 95% CI: 1.15-58.89), being admitted with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction (AOR=5.36; 95% CI: 2.81-35.52), presence of orthopnea (AOR=6.63; 95% CI: 2.94-46.76), and using intranasal oxygen therapy (AOR=9.41; 95% CI: 1.35-65.82) were significantly associated with in-hospital mortality in patients with acute heart failure. Conclusion:The in-hospital mortality of acute heart failure patients was relatively higher in the study area. Therefore, specific preventative and therapeutic strategies focusing on heart failure patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction, atrial fibrillation, ischemic heart disease, orthopnea, and intranasal oxygen therapy are required to reduce the mortality rate.

A523influenced by the fact that 75% of participants experienced severe period pain. Overall lack of preference for vaginal rings should be interpreted with caution as interviews highlighted patients' lack of awareness of this device. A treatment allowing patients to conceive was appreciated.