Background: Antibiotics remain among the most prescribed drugs in primary healthcare, contributing to increased antibiotic resistance in the community and prevailing as an emerging global health ...concern. We aimed to quantify the prevalence and quality of antibiotic prescription in primary healthcare settings in the Municipality of Prishtina to identify targets for quality improvement.Methods and Results: This study represents a population-based, retrospective cohort, including data from eight randomly selected family medical centers in the Municipality of Prishtina. Each 150th patient on medical records was assessed for demographic data, diagnosis (ICD-10), antibiotic prescription, antibiotic class, and antibiotic form. In total, the study included 1614 cases reviewed. The antibiotic prescription rate was 16%. The health condition for which most of the cases received antibiotics was J18 - Pneumonia, unspecified organism (67%), followed by J03 - Acute tonsillitis (54%), J42 - Unspecified chronic bronchitis (46%), and N39 - Other disorders of the urinary system (43%) Broad-spectrum antibiotics, such as co-amoxiclav (17.7%), amoxicillin (16.5%), and ceftriaxone (12.6%), featured among the most routinely prescribed antibiotics. The antibiotic prescription rate was the highest for cases in the 3-5 age group, of whom 27% received an antibiotic prescription. In 73% of cases, oral antibiotics were prescribed, 69% of which belong to the WHO AWaRe (Access, Watch, Reserve) essential medicines list. Only 18% of antibiotics were prescribed with their generic names. Conclusion: The prevalence of antibiotic prescription in primary healthcare settings in Prishtina is moderately low. These data cannot be extrapolated to other municipalities in Kosovo or other countries due to different organizational levels. High antibiotic prescription rates for young age groups, prescription of broad-spectrum antibiotics, and high rates of parenteral antibiotics were identified as targets for quality improvement.
Because of the efficacy of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), their the use is increasing dramatically. The risk of adverse effects of short-term PPI therapy is low, but there are important safety ...concerns for potential adverse effects of prolonged PPI therapy. Findings from studies assessing the association between PPI use and bone mineral density (BMD) and/or fracture risk are contradictory. The aim of this study was to prospectively assess potential association of PPI treatment with the 12-month change in BMD of the lumbar spine, femur neck, and total hip. The study was performed in 200 PPI users and 50 PPI nonusers. Lumbar spine (L1–L4), femur neck, and total hip BMD were measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry at the baseline and at 12 months. A total of 209 subjects completed the entire 12 months of the study and were included in the final analysis. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that at 12 months PPI use was associated with statistically significant reductions in femur neck and total hip
T
scores (
Z
= −2.764,
p
= 0.005 and
Z
= −3.281,
p
= 0.001, respectively). A multiple linear regression analysis showed that only esomeprazole added significantly to the prediction of total lumbar spine and femur neck
T
scores (
p
= 0.048 and
p
= 0.037, respectively). Compared with the baseline, 12 months of PPI treatment resulted in lower femur neck and total hip BMD
T
scores. Among the four PPIs studied, esomeprazole was independently associated with significant reduction of BMD, whereas omeprazole had no effects on BMD. Considering the widespread use of PPIs, BMD screening should be considered in the case of prolonged PPI use.
BACKGROUND Coxa vara and pseudoarthrosis of the femoral neck after septic hip arthritis is a very rare disease. The aim of this study was to present a case with pseudoarthrosis of the femoral neck, ...with coxa vara after neonatal septic arthritis of the right hip, and treatment of the pseudarthrosis with proximal femoral valgus osteotomy. CASE REPORT A 12-month-old female, who had suffered neonatal septic arthritis with a five-day history of fever and painful right hip now demonstrated painless limping to the right hip, pelvic obliquity, Trendelenburg-Duchenne gait, limitation of hip abduction, lower-extremity length discrepancy with 3.0 cm of shortening of right femur, and walking on her tiptoes. In addition, a viable femoral head, coxa vara, and pseudoarthrosis of the femoral neck were observed. At the age of 26-months, the patient had a realignment valgus osteotomy of the proximal femur and adductor tenotomy was performed. At the last follow-up postoperative evaluation, at the age of four and a half years, the patient showed successful consolidation of pseudoarthrosis, correction of Trendelenburg gait, restored right lower extremity alignment, and corrected lower-extremity length discrepancy. CONCLUSIONS In the case of coxa vara and pseudoarthrosis of the femoral neck, realignment of the proximal femoral valgus osteotomy and bone grafting of the pseudoarthrosis resulted in ossification of the femoral neck as the epiphyseal plate was placed at right angle to the compressive forces.
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) are a widely used class of drugs because of a generally acceptable safety profile. Among recently raised safety issues of the long-term use of PPIs is the increased risk ...of developing hypomagnesemia. As there have been very few prospective studies measuring serum magnesium levels before and after PPI therapy, we aimed to prospectively assess the potential association between PPI therapy for 12 months and the risk of hypomagnesemia as well as the incidence of new-onset hypomagnesemia during the study. In addition, the association of PPI therapy with the risk of hypocalcemia was assessed.
The study included 250 patients with normal serum magnesium and total calcium levels, who underwent a long-term PPI treatment. Serum magnesium, total calcium, and parathormone (PTH) levels were measured at baseline and after 12 months.
Of the 250 study participants, 209 completed 12 months of treatment and were included in the statistical analysis. The Wilcoxon signed rank test showed no statistically significant differences in serum magnesium levels between measurements at two different time points. However, there were statistically significant differences in serum total calcium and PTH levels in PPI users.
Stable serum magnesium levels were demonstrated after 12 months and no association between PPI use and risk of hypomagnesemia was shown in the general population. Significant reductions of serum total calcium levels were demonstrated among PPI users; nevertheless, further research is required before recommending any serum calcium and PTH level monitoring in patients initiated on long-term PPI therapy.
There is paucity of evidence in southeastern Europe and Kosovo regarding dairy products consumption and association with bone mineral density (BMD). Therefore, the objective of present study was to ...assess calcium intake and dairy products consumption and to investigate relationship with total hip BMD in a Kosovo women sample.
This cross-sectional study included a sample of 185 women divided into respective groups according to total hip BMD. All the study participants completed a food frequency questionnaire and underwent dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) to estimate BMD. Nonparametric tests were performed to compare characteristics of the groups.
The average dietary calcium intake was 818.41 mg/day. Only 16.75% of the subjects met calcium recommended dietary reference intakes (DRIs). There were no significant differences between low BMD group and normal BMD group regarding average dietary calcium intake, but it was significantly higher in BMDT3 subgroup than in BMDT2 and BMDT1 subgroups.
The results of this study demonstrate significant relationship of daily dietary calcium intake with upper BMD tertile. Further initiatives are warranted from this study to highlight the importance of nutrition education.
Proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) represent the most widely prescribed antisecretory agents, but their prolonged use, may influence iron and vitamin B12 status, which could have important implications ...for clinical practice.
We undertook this study aiming to investigate the association between PPIs use for 12 months and potential changes in iron and vitamin B12 status, as well as whether this potential association varies among four specific PPI drugs used in the study.
A total of 250 adult subjects were recruited into this study, of which 200 subjects were PPIs users while 50 subjects belonged to the control group. Serum iron, ferritin, vitamin B12, and homocysteine (Hcy) levels were measured before the start of the study and after 12 months. Mann - Whitney U test and Kruskal - Wallis test was used to compare the baseline characteristics of the study groups, while Wilcoxon test was used to analyse post - pre differences.
Statistical analysis showed significant changes within PPIs group and specific PPIs subgroups between the two-time points in serum ferritin and vitamin B12 levels, respectively, while no significant changes in serum iron and homocysteine levels were shown. However, subsequent diagnosis of hypoferremia and hypovitaminosis B12 in the whole study sample at 12 months was established in only 3.8% and 2.9% of the subjects, respectively.
PPIs use for 12 months did not result in clinically significant iron and/or vitamin B12 deficiency; thus, these findings argue routine screening under normal circumstances, although monitoring in elderly and malnourished may be of precious value.
Cytochrome P450 genetic polymorphisms are responsible for individual variations in drug metabolism and drug-drug interactions. They are very important for pharmacogenetics, and their frequency varies ...across different populations. There is a big gap in the knowledge about the CYP gene family polymorphisms in the population of Kosovo, and the aim of our study was to fill that gap by determining the frequency of the most important variant alleles of CYP2C9, CYP2C19, and CYP3A5 in 234 nonrelated Kosovars. The allele frequencies of CYP2C9*2 and 2C9*3 were 17.52 %, and 10.89 %, respectively. Sixteen participants (6.81 %) were CYP2C9 poor metabolisers. The CYP2C19*2 and *17 variant frequencies were 13.03 % and 19.01 %, respectively. There were 2.13 % CYP2C19 poor and 4.27 % ultra-rapid metabolisers (homozygous carriers of the *17 allele). With regard to CYP3A5, the frequency of the *3 variant allele was 98.29 % (non-expressors), while the remaining participants (1.70 %) were expressors of CYP3A5. These findings are comparable with other European ethnicities, specifically those of Southeast Europe.
Antibiotics are among the most commonly prescribed drugs in paediatrics. In most cases, antibiotics are started on an empirical basis, without proof of a bacterial infection, either before the start ...of therapy or afterwards.
The main objective of this study was to analyse the consumption of antibiotics in hospitalised paediatric patients.
This retrospective study investigated the consumption of antimicrobials in defined daily doses (DDDs according to the Anatomical Therapeutical Chemical/DDD index) in Pulmonology, Gastroenterology and Nephrology Departments at Pediatric Clinic of the tertiary hospital. The data on the consumption of antimicrobials were collected for five years by using properly designed form. The consumption was related to days of hospital care.
The most utilised antibiotics group in all three departments Pulmonology, Gastroenterology and Nephrology Departments were penicillins. Cephalosporins were mostly used in Pulmonology department. Metronidazole and Chloramphenicol were used in minimal quantities in all three departments.
This study demonstrates that surveillance programs on antibiotic resistance should be established and accompanied by analyses of drug utilisation data which can aid in the creation of valid cross-national studies on antibiotic usage and resistance, to motivate improvements in prescribing and guideline-directed antibiotic prescribing.
Body weight and body mass index (BMI) are considered strong predictors of osteoporotic fractures, though optimal BMI levels remain unsettled. There are several studies conducted on women about the ...relationship between BMI and bone mineral density (BMD), and just a few so far on men. Therefore, the objective of current study was to analyze the relationship between weight and BMI and BMD measured in lumbar spine (L1-L4), femur neck and total hip in 64 men from Kosovo.
This cross-sectional study included a population of 64 men divided into three BMI groups. Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) measurements were done in all the study participants.
Pearson's correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between weight and BMI and BMD in femur neck and in total hip, and a significant negative correlation between age and femur neck BMD. Age-adjusted linear regression analysis showed that weight and BMI had a significant positive association with BMD levels.
Although the results show significant relationship between BMI and BMD, the negative relationship between age and femur neck BMD may serve as guidance to initiate early assessment of the BMD in this region as well as preventive measures of osteoporosis and fractures among ageing men population.
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