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Objective: This study aimed to explore the relationship between urogenital symptom frequency and severity, perception of vaginal treatment burden, and female sexual desire, arousal, and satisfaction. Methods: A cross‐sectional study was conducted with a sample of 326 patients from three tertiary care hospitals in the United Arab Emirates. The frequency and severity of urogenital symptoms, emotional and physical functioning, and treatment burden were assessed using the validated genitourinary syndrome of menopause symptoms and vaginal treatments acceptability questionnaire (GSM‐SVATQ). To examine the mediating roles of emotional and physical functioning, as well as the perceived treatment burden on sexual functioning, a partial least squares‐structural equation model was developed using the SmartPLS 4 Software. Results: The measurement model was successfully established. All constructs had a reliability of > 0.70 and discriminant validity of < 0.90. Emotional, physical and sexual functioning showed an adjusted R2 values of 0.377, 0.282 and 0.169, respectively.The multistep multiple mediator model revealed a full mediation effect of both emotional and physical functioning between symptom, treatment burden and sexual functioning. The model showed high predictive performance with all manifest variables showing lower mean absolute errors compared to the naiive benchmark model. Conclusion: This study enhances our understanding of the relationships between urogenital symptoms, perceived treatment burden, emotional functioning, and sexual well‐being. The findings emphasize the importance of addressing emotional well‐being in managing urogenital symptoms and in addressing emotional factors associated with the use of vaginal treatments. Synopsis: Emotional and physical functioning have mediating roles between urogenital symptoms, treatment burden, and sexual functioning among peri‐ and postmenopausal women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: To develop and validate an electronic, patient‐reported outcomes measure (PROM) specific for genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) patients. The PROM aimed to accurately assess the burden of GSM symptoms, their impact on health‐related and sexual quality of life, and the acceptability of vaginal treatments. Methods: The study encompassed a comprehensive three‐stage approach to the development and validation of the PROM. Initially, during the preliminary design stage, the necessity for a new PROM was recognized, an expert panel was formed, and semi‐structured qualitative interviews were carried out with GSM patients. In the second stage, the study used the five‐step pre‐validation methodology established by Prior et al. to generate and refine the PROM items. The third and final stage encompassed the determination of scale and item content validity indexes to ensure validity. Additionally, the reliability of each construct was evaluated using Cronbach's α. Results: The resulting PROM was named GSM‐SVTAQ (GSM‐symptoms and vaginal treatments acceptability questionnaire). It demonstrated excellent validity in assessing symptoms burden, health‐related and sexual quality of life, and vaginal treatment acceptability, with high content validity indices and strong internal consistency. The scale content validity indices and Cronbach's α coefficients for the three domains were (0.926, 0.939), (0.875, 0.947), and (0.824, 0.855), respectively. Conclusion: The GSM‐SVTAQ stands as the first GSM‐specific, valid, and reliable PROM capable of comprehensively measuring the three components of GSM and the acceptability of vaginal treatments. Its implementation has the potential to significantly enhance patient care and outcomes in GSM management. Synopsis: The study developed and validated GSM‐SVTAQ, a reliable measure for genitourinary syndrome of menopause, assessing symptoms burden, quality of life, and vaginal treatment acceptability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Clinical pharmacists are uniquely positioned to effectively bridge the gap between patients and physicians. However, there is still a lack of legislation and logistical enforcement in the provision of clinical pharmacy services. There is also lack of the effective collaboration between pharmacists and other healthcare professionals that ensures service standardization. The purpose of this study was to investigate healthcare professionals' and students' attitudes toward integrating clinical pharmacy services into primary care in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: Face-to-face structured interviews were conducted with 545 healthcare professionals and medical students from various medical institutions across the UAE over the course of three months (January to March 2021), using a 10-statement questionnaire that measured their level of agreement on a 3-point Likert scale. Results: The study interview was successfully completed by all respondents (response rate 100%). More than half of all healthcare professionals (pharmacists, physicians, and nurses) agreed that there is a growing interest in clinical pharmacy services in the UAE, but 27% said clinical pharmacists have performed such a role. Both physicians and nurses expressed an interest in working with a clinical pharmacist (94% and 98%, respectively). A majority of physicians and nurses (76% and 67%, respectively) agreed that the clinical pharmacist could improve the quality of medical care in a hospital setting. Conclusion: Despite the positive attitudes observed among other healthcare professionals toward collaboration and the use of clinical pharmacists' skills, it was discovered that the latter had not yet fulfilled their roles. There are still numerous obstacles that prevent pharmacists from expanding their role to include and provide optimal direct patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Different studies have shown that hemodialysis patients require higher doses of Vitamin D3 (VD3) than the general population to achieve satisfactory replenishment. This study aims to assess the safety of such practice and its benefits on some of the parameters of Chronic Kidney Disease- Mineral and Bone Disorder (CKD-MBD). Methods: A single-center clinical trial assessing the benefits of high dose VD3 in hemodialysis patients. The dose of VD3 (300,000 IU) was administered orally and monthly from April to December 2020 (9 months) at the dialysis unit. The data analyzed were blood levels of calcium, phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase, 25(OH)D, 1,25(OH)2D and intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH) done every three months. Results: We could recruit a cohort of 23 patients. Blood levels of 25(OH)D increased significantly in 82.6% of the patients to above 30 ng/ml. A similar effect was observed with 1, 25(OH)2D levels. iPTH levels decreased significantly when levels of 25(OH)D exceeded 30ng/ml at the end of the nine months. Vitamin D serum levels were typically measured immediately before the next monthly dose was administered. Blood levels of calcium, phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase were stable during the study period. No events of hypercalcemia were reported, and no patient discontinued the monthly VD3 supplementation. Conclusion: Monthly administration of a high dose of VD3 over a long period of nine months in hemodialysis patients was found to be safe and beneficial in VD3 replenishment. It also allowed a significant decrease in iPTH levels. Further studies are warranted to identify the therapeutic target level of 25(OH)D in hemodialysis patients, allowing beneficial effects on iPTH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Proper self-medication with Over the Counter (OTC) medicines can benefit both the patient and the healthcare sector. Although OTC medications are considered relatively safe, their improper use can lead to serious health risks and implications. This study investigates the self-medication practices with OTC medicines among medical and non-medical students at different universities in the United Arab Emirates. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out over six months (January-June 2021). The desired confidence level was set at 95%, and the precision level was 0.03. A three-step cluster sample method was employed. A self-administered questionnaire that assessed predisposing, enabling and need factors associated with the use of OTC medicines was developed based on Andersen's behaviorism model. Results: A total of 2355 students completed the study questionnaire. The mean age was 20.94, and 76.3% were female. More than half of the participating students (57.5%) reported using OTC medicines during the past 90 days of conducting the study. A good proportion (67.8%) reported performing a high level of self-care. Student's perceived health (p<0.0001), educational background (p=0.003), use of left-over drugs (p=0.002), relies on informal sources for drug information (p=0.0001) and reading drugs information leaflets (p<0.0001) were all significantly associated with whether students sought medical advice or not. Conclusion: Many university students were observed that they never sought pharmacist advice when taking OTC medications. The likelihood of consulting a pharmacist when using an OTC medication was lower among medical students than non-medical students and among those who do not read the drug information leaflets. The proactive role that a pharmacist can play can have paramount importance in promoting the proper and safe use of OTC drugs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has taken a series of preventive measures to control the spread of the Coronavirus. Dealing with the unforeseen challenges caused by the pandemic has had a profound impact on people all around the world. Pharmacists played an important public health role during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they were the first point of contact with the public and the first source of information, providing accurate and reliable management and preventive measures. The aim of this study was to analyse the distress symptoms and the associated factors among a sample of the UAE population. Materials and Methods: This was an observational cross-sectional study conducted over the period of September to October 2020. A bilingual online self-administered questionnaire was distributed among individuals aged 15 years and above. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: Most of the students in the sample found online learning less effective than in-class learning. Among these, 49.9% and 62.8 % reported that they had normal sleep and eating habits, respectively. In all the sample, most of the participants (96%) were adherent to preventive measures. Higher levels of distress during the COVID-19 lockdown were found among females, individuals younger than 35 years old, those who neglected personal hygiene and who had worse quality of family gatherings and relationships. Conclusion: This study identified factors associated with distress symptoms experienced by people during the lockdown and perceived attitudes regarding online learning, preventive measures and changes in people's behaviours and family environment. Knowledge about how lockdown has affected the lives of the populations can be used to design public health interventions aimed at promoting the health and well-being of the communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]