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Objectives Early investments in new diagnostic technologies that allow for rapid and decentralized testing were critical in reducing SARS-CoV-2's detrimental health and economic effects. This study evaluates public knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing kits. Methods An online descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire was used in this study. The final study population included all contacted national and resident adults, age 18 and over, who were willing to engage in the study. The survey was divided according to participants' demographic information and 11 questions assessed the respondents' understanding of and willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing kits. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 24. Multivariate linear regression models were used to identify the factors influencing respondents' knowledge of and attitudes toward the acceptability of self-testing kits for COVID-19 and their willingness to use these kits. Key findings A total of 876 respondents participated in the study and completed the whole questionnaire. The average knowledge score on the acceptability of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19 was 70.2%, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) [69.1%, 71.4%]. Participants who were postgraduate, female and vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as employees and older participants, were jointly highly associated with higher levels of knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Moreover, participants who had been infected with COVID-19, were vaccinated against COVID-19 or were female, employees, older, Western or Arabic were jointly highly associated with positive attitudes about the acceptability of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Conclusions The majority of the respondents have acceptable levels of knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Nonetheless, future studies should consider the issues of pre- and post-test counselling, false negative results and the sale of unregulated testing kits. Additional information should be communicated so that people can make informed decisions and be protected from possible abuse of COVID-19 self-testing kits when they become available in pharmacies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Inhaled drug delivery has been hailed as a major advancement in respiratory therapeutics. However, a major limitation to use the inhaled medications effectively is the inability of patients and nurses to use and demonstrate the proper use of these devices correctly. Being the drug experts, pharmacists are in a pivotal position to delivered tailored education to their peers, the nurses. Aim: This study aims to examine nurses' knowledge of asthma management, their ability to demonstrate proper inhaler technique, and the impact of a specialized workshop training program delivered by skilled pharmacists on improving their performance. Methods: This is a pre- and post-cross-sectional study design in hospital setting where nurses were recruited from the respiratory and emergency departments within a healthcare facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The nurses attended a training workshop prepared and delivered by skilled pharmacists on inhaler technique demonstration skills. Nurses' inhaler technique demonstration skills for Diskus, Turbuhaler, and pMDI were assessed at baseline, immediately after the workshop, and after four weeks. The nurses completed the demographic and Asthma Knowledge Questionnaire (AKQ). Results: A random convenience sample of registered nurses (n=20) from the respiratory and emergency departments was recruited from a tertiary hospital in Sharjah, UAE, with a mean age of 35.25 (SD=6.96) years, of whom 90% were females. The mean number of years of experience was 12.00 years (SD=5.81). Inhaler technique assessment revealed low inhaler technique scores for all the three study inhalers at baseline (mean score for Diskus=3.85 (SD=2.87); Turbuhaler=3.70 (SD=3.20); pMDI=4.50 (SD=2.65)) Significant improvements in inhaler technique scores were noted after the workshop (Diskus=8.9 (SD=0.31); Turbuhaler=8.9 (SD=0.31); pMDI=8.0 (SD=0.00), P<0.001). A significant difference in AKQ scores was found before (mean=4.85 (SD=1.27)) and after (mean=7.50 (SD=0.95)) the workshop training session (P<0.001), and four weeks after the workshop training session (mean=7.55 (SD=0.76), P<0.001). Conclusion: The UAE nurses' inhaler technique and AKQ scores were suboptimal at baseline. The specialized training program prepared and delivered by the skilled pharmacists improved nurses' inhaler technique demonstration skills and AKQ scores. Such improvements would reflect positively on patients' asthma management outcomes as nurses are the health care professionals who interact the most with the patients during hospitalization [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]