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Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify parental perception of household medication storage. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional study utilizing a questionnaire was carried out at Hamad Medical Corporation, the solely tertiary pediatric hospital in the State of Qatar at the time of the study. Qatar is a young developing country with limited data on the awareness of medication storage among adults with children at home and on the safety practices regarding medication storage. Results: Three hundred and five questionnaires were completed. The vast majority of parents were married, one-third of them were males, and more than three quarters were college graduates and younger than 40 years of age. Almost 80% of the parents had more than three children but less than seven. In addition, 23% of participants were health-care workers. Almost 90% of the participants stored medications in a place that is easy to reach. However, the same percentage stated that those medications were stored in a locked place and that children did not have access to them. Approximately 10% of caregivers store multiple medications in one bottle, and the same percentage of participants do not check the expiration date on the medication labels. In terms of the most common medications stored at home, antihypertensives were on top of the list. Our study has shown that parental education and being a health-care worker were each associated with the difficulty in reaching medications (P = 0.006 and P = 0.011, respectively). Moreover, the percentage of participants who shared medications was significantly higher among those who were not working in the health-care section compared to those who were (P = 0.004). In addition, being a female parent and a college graduate was associated with the possibility of keeping excess or leftover medications at home (P = 0.025). Conclusion: Parents residing in the State of Qatar have some deficiencies in knowledge about medication storage. Parent's attitudes and perceptions are deemed vital objectives for population's health intervention.

Purpose: To identify parental perception of a take-back program for medications. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire was conducted at Hamad Medical Corporation, the only tertiary pediatric hospital in the State of Qatar at the time of the study. Qatar is a rapidly developing country with limited national data on the awareness of medication misuse among adults living with children at home and on the safety practices regarding medication disposal. Results: 305 questionnaires were completed (response rate = 90%). More than 80% of parents were in between 20 and 39 years of age, 70% of them were females, and 80% were college graduates. Approximately 90% of participants have immediate relatives who were taking medications for chronic diseases. Almost 60% of parents stated that they keep unused medications at home, whereas 10% were not aware of the fate of the left over medications. Approximately 95% of the parents dispose the expired medications. In terms of the mode of disposing the medications, 66% of caregivers dispose the medication bottle or package in the trash can, whereas 14% remove the medications from the bottles or packages and throw them in the trash, and 15% put them through the drain. When asked if participants read disposal measures in the medication pamphlet, only 10% answered “always,” whereas 26% answered “sometimes.” Participants were asked if they have heard of any medications take-back programs, 75% answered no, whereas 14% were not sure. However, almost 60% of them will use the take-back program if available and 18% were not sure. Conclusion: Parents residing in the State of Qatar have deficiencies in knowledge about medication disposal. Parent's attitudes and perceptions are considered indispensable targets for community health intervention. Our next step is to share our data with the ministry of health to spread awareness about the proper disposal of medicines and take-back programs in Qatar.

Mohamed A Hendaus,1,2 Hibaq A Jama,1 Faisal J Siddiqui,1,3 Sohair A Elsiddig,1 Ahmed H Alhammadi1,2 1Department of Pediatrics, General Academic Pediatrics Section, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, 2Department of Clinical Pediatrics, Weill Cornell Medical College, 3Pediatric Residency Program, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate parental preference for fluoride varnish in a country where the average percentage of dental caries in young children is up to~73%. Consequently, the aim of this study, despite being a pilot, was to create a nationwide project in the State of Qatar to promote oral health in children. Methods: A cross-sectional perspective study was conducted at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar. Parents of children aged ≤5 years were offered an interview survey. A total of 200questionnaires were completed (response rate =100%). The study was conducted between December 1, 2014 and March 30, 2015, and included all children aged >1 year and 90% of families were aware that dental health affects the health of the whole body. The study showed that ~70% of parents were not aware of the existence of fluoride varnish, but would allow a health provider to apply fluoride varnish. Furthermore, ~80% of parents would not stop brushing their child’s teeth and would not skip dentist appointments if varnish was to be applied. Approximately 40% of parents conveyed some concerns regarding the safety of fluoride varnish, despite being considered as a new concept. The main concern was that the child might swallow some of the fluoride. Another important concern expressed by parents was the availability of the fluoride varnish in all clinics. Conclusion: The robust positive attitude of parents in this sample suggests that introducing fluoride varnish is feasible and acceptable in our community. Actions to augment fluoride varnish acceptability in the developing world, such as focusing on safety, could be important in the disseminated implementation of fluoride varnish. Keywords: fluoride, parents, varnish, Qatar

The purpose of the study was to investigate parental preference of fluoride varnish in a country where the average percentage of dental caries in young children reaches up to approximately 73%. Consequently, the aim of this study is to create a nationwide project in the State of Qatar to promote oral health in children via counseling, awareness and the introduction of new modes of dental caries prevention such as fluoride varnish. A cross-sectional perspective study was …