No abstract

ABSTRACT. Fluorosis, either dental or skeleton, is often due to the high fluoride content of well waters. In this work, using solutions which contain different amounts of fluoride, natural zeolites from Ethiopia and Mexico were tested. It is shown that, although zeolites are known to be cationic exchangers, their extra-framework aluminum and their high calcium contents determine their performance. A mechanism involving adsorption and ion exchange is proposed.

Background Globally, preventable medication-related problems are increasing constantly. Patient-centered communication (PCC) is essential to identify and reduce the occurrence of drug-related problems such as inappropriate use of medications, adverse drug reactions and non-adherence. In Eritrea, personal observations and anecdotal reports showed that pharmacy professionals’ practice towards PCC was unsatisfactory. This study was conducted to assess pharmacy professionals' knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy and barriers towards the practice of PCC. Methods An analytical cross-sectional study design was employed among all pharmacy professionals who were employees of the drug retail outlets and hospital out-patient pharmacies of Asmara, Eritrea. A census approach was employed and data were collected from May to June 2021 using a face to face interview-based data collection tool. Descriptive and analytical statistics including independent samples t -test and multiple linear regression were employed using IBM SPSS (version-26). Results A total of 79 pharmacy professionals with a median age of 36 (IQR: 20) years were included in the study. The mean (SD) knowledge score of PCC was found to be 11.91 (2.0) out of 17. Moreover, the mean (SD) attitude score was 39.55 (4.0) out of 60 and the overall mean (SD) self-efficacy score was 52.51 (12.0) out of 96. Self-efficacy was significantly correlated with attitude ( p =0.015). Work setting (p=0.002) and training (p=0.045) were predictors for the sub-scales of self-efficacy ‘exploring patient’s perspectives’ and ‘dealing with communicative challenges’, respectively. Workload/shortage of pharmacy professionals and time constraint were found to be the main barriers of the pharmacy professionals for not practicing PCC. Conclusion Generally the pharmacy professionals’ fairly encouraging knowledge and attitude score on PCC, it was not supported with their self-efficacy. This necessitates further attention from policy makers and health facility managers in creating an ideal working environment for the pharmacy professionals to practice PCC at their best.

Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice is an international, peer-reviewed, open access, online journal, publishing original research, reports, reviews and commentaries on all areas of academic and professional pharmacy practice. This journal aims to represent the academic output of pharmacists and pharmacy practice with particular focus on integrated care. All papers are carefully peer reviewed to ensure the highest standards as well as ensuring that we are informing and stimulating pharmaceutical professionals. The manuscript management system is completely online and includes a very quick and fair peer-review system, which is all easy to use. Visit http://www.dovepress.com/testimonials.php to read real quotes from published authors.