Nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity are clinically significant dose-related adverse effects associated with second-line anti-tubercular injectables drugs (aminoglycosides and capreomycin) used during intensive phase of treatment of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients. Data are scarce on injectable-induced nephrotoxicity and ototoxicity in Ethiopian MDR-TB patients. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, management of nephrotoxicity and ototoxic symptoms and treatment outcomes of patients treated for MDR-TB with injectable-based regimens. This was retrospective cohort study based on review of medical records of about 900 patients on MDR-TB treatment from January 2010 to December 2015 at two large TB referral hospitals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Nephrotoxicity in study participants was screened using baseline and monthly measurement of serum creatinine and clinical diagnosis and patient reports. Overall, 473 (54.2%) of participants were male. Children accounted for 47 (5.5%) of cases and the mean age of participants was 32 ± 12.6 years with range of 2–75 years. The majority (n = 788, 84.6%) of participants had past history of TB. The most commonly used injectable anti-TB drug was capreomycin (n = 789, 84.7%), while kanamycin and amikacin were also used. There was a statistically significant increment (p<0.05) in the mean serum creatinine values from baseline throughout intensive phase of treatment with a 10–18% prevalence of nephrotoxicity. Based on clinical criteria, nephrotoxicity was detected in 62 (6.7%) and ototoxic symptoms were detected in 42 (4.8%) participants. Nephrotoxicity and ototoxic symptoms were clinically managed by modification of treatment regimens including dose and frequency of drug administration. Nephrotoxicity and ototoxic symptoms were significant problems among patients on follow-up for MDR-TB treatment. Based on laboratory criteria (serum creatinine), nephrotoxicity remained significant adverse events throughout intensive phase of treatment, indicating close monitoring of patients for successful outcome is mandatory until countries adopt the recent injectable-free WHO guideline and under specific conditions.

Purpose: This study was launched to assess COVID-19-related knowledge, attitude and practice among hospital and community pharmacists in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Methods: Self-administered questionnaire was distributed to pharmacists working in hospitals and community pharmacies by physically delivering the questionnaire to study subjects. Data collected were entered into and analyzed by IBM SPSS Statistics^® Version 25. Binary logistic analysis was used to determine the association between independent and outcome variables. Results: All 295 participants who completed the survey stated that they had heard about COVID-19. Almost all of the participants were aware of the causative agent, the clinical manifestations and the ways of transmission of COVID-19. Most participants (92.2%) identified elderly individuals as one of the high-risk groups for severe complications and death while 89.5% identified supportive therapy and life support as recommended management options to date. More than half (53.2%) of the respondents were found to have adequate knowledge about COVID-19. Among respondents, 89.8% had a positive attitude on the importance of following WHO recommendations in reducing the transmission of COVID-19. Only 9.8% had confidence in the capacity of healthcare facilities in the country to properly handle potential COVID-19 pandemic. Inadequate protective measures were taken to protect the staff from COVID-19 in the institutions of 70.2% of the participants. Among the WHO recommended prevention measures, hand washing was exercised by 97.3% of the study participants. Conclusion: The study findings confirmed that there is a high level of knowledge on each specific aspect of COVID-19 among the study participants. However, only about half of the participants had adequate knowledge about the disease. The pharmacists showed a predominantly positive attitude towards the importance of WHO recommendations and predominantly negative attitude towards the country’s capacity to deal with the pandemic. The practice related to COVID-19 was inadequate at institutional level. Nevertheless, most of the pharmacists individually exercised self-protective measures against COVID-19. All stakeholders should work on ensuring the adequate supply of materials and services that aid in controlling the pandemic.

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) patients are at increased risk of developing drug therapy problems (DTPs). The patients had a variety of comorbidities and complications, and they were given multiple medications. Medication therapy management (MTM) is a distinct service or group of services that optimize therapeutic outcomes for individual patients. The study assessed the impact of provision of MTM service on selected clinical and humanistic outcomes of diabetes patients at the diabetes mellitus clinic of Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH). Methods: A pre-post interventional study design was carried out at DM clinic from July 2018 to April 2019. The intervention package included identifying and resolving drug therapy problems, counseling patients in person at the clinic or through telephone calls, and providing educational materials for six months. This was followed by four months of post-intervention assessment of clinical outcomes, DTPs, and treatment satisfaction. The interventions were provided by pharmacist in collaboration with physician and nurse. The study included all adult patients who had been diagnosed for diabetes (both type I & II) and had been taking anti-diabetes medications for at least three months. Patients with gestational diabetes, those who decided to change their follow-up clinic, and those who refused to participate in the study were excluded. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics, t-test, and logistic regressions were performed for data analyses. Results: Of the 423 enrolled patients, 409 fulfilled the criteria and included in the final data analysis. The intervention showed a decrease in average hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), fasting blood sugar (FBS), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) by 0.92%, 25.04 mg/dl, and 6.62 mmHg, respectively (p<0.05). The prevalence of DTPs in the pre- and post-intervention of MTM services was found to be 72.9% and 26.2%, respectively (p<0.001). The overall mean score of treatment satisfaction was 90.1(SD, 11.04). Diabetes patients of age below 40 years (92.84 (SD, 9.54)), type-I DM (93.04 (SD, 9.75)) & being on one medication regimen (93.13(SD, 9.17)) had higher satisfaction score (p<0.05). Conclusion: Provision of MTM service had a potential to reduce DTPs, improve the clinical parameters, and treatment satisfaction in the post-intervention compared to the pre-intervention phase.

Background: Adverse effects (AEs) have been reported with all antiretroviral therapy (ART) medications, and it was among the most common cause for switching or terminating therapy and drug non-adherence. Even though AEs of ART medications are common and to be expected, little study has been conducted on the understanding of patients on the AEs. Therefore, this study aimed to assess patients’ knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) toward ART medications’ AEs and associated factors. Methods: A cross-sectional study design was applied using an interviewer-administered questionnaire from June to September 2021 on human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome patients on follow-up at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, Ethiopia. Data was gathered, cleaned, and analyzed using SPSS version 23. Logistic regression analysis was performed to assess the relationship between the independent variable and patients’ knowledge and attitude about the AEs of ART medication. A p-value of 0.05 was used to determine the statistical significance. Results: About 230 people were enrolled in this study, with 51.3% of them female. Study participants had a mean age of 36 years (standard deviation = 14.19). Of 230 participants, 67.8% had received advice on the AEs of ART medications. Poor knowledge and attitude were observed among 47.8 and 51.3% of respondents, respectively. Prior AEs experience, lack of experiencing opportunistic infection, and lack of counseling about ART medications’ AEs were associated with poor knowledge, whereas female gender and a lack of counseling regarding ART medications’ AEs were associated with a negative attitude ( p < 0.05). Even though most patients (81.7%) report AEs of the medication to professionals, a significant number of patients involved in malpractices such as taking other drugs to treat AEs (24.3%), not prepared to do anything (27.1%), change the suspected drug (24.3%), reduce the dose (18.7%), and use local herbal medicines to treat suspected AEs (20.2%). Conclusion: Overall, the study participants had poor knowledge, lack of positive attitudes, and non-adherence to the actual recommended practice toward AEs of ART medications. Lack of comorbidity, having prior AEs experience, and lack of counseling regarding ART medication AEs were associated with poor knowledge. Female gender and a lack of counseling on the AEs of ART medications were associated with a negative attitude.

Background: Diabetes Mellitus is a complex, chronic disease that requires a coordinated management practice beyond blood glucose control. The disease causes chronic complications that affect the quality of the life of patients, place major pressure on the health-care system and cause a rise in diabetes-related mortality. Objective: To determine the prevalence of chronic diabetes mellitus complications, related risk factors, and management practice among adult type 2 diabetes mellitus outpatients at Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital (TASH). Methods: A cross-sectional study design was carried out from July to September 2018. The pre-tested data abstraction format was used to gather demographic and clinical information. We also used a balance of weight measurement, upright placed meter for height measurement, waist circumference measurement meter and BP equipment. Statistical analysis was accomplished using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) 25^® software. The significance level for statistics was set at p< 0.05. Results: In this study, 320 patients were involved. Of these, about 57% were female and had a mean age of 58 ± 11.2 years. About 85% of the study participants had comorbidity and 42.5% had complications. Hypertension and neuropathy were the most common comorbidity and complication, respectively. The usage of vascular preventive medication among study participants was 74.7% and 55.3% for statins and ASAs, respectively. Participants in the study who had disease duration of 5– 10 years (AOR=3.50, 95% CI: 1.19– 10.28) and fifteen and above (AOR= 3.59, 95% CI: 1.36– 9.49) were at higher risk of diabetes complication as compared to less than five years. Conclusion: The prevalence of chronic complications was high among adult T2DM outpatients. The duration of disease and the number of medications used were the factors associated with chronic complications. The use of vascular preventive medications was low among study participants.

Background: Cervical cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide. Early screening and vaccination can prevent cervical cancer; however, the low levels of knowledge, attitude, and practice among the young can contribute to the high prevalence of cervical cancer. Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of cervical cancer and associated factors among female Health Sciences students of the College of Health Sciences at Addis Ababa University. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from February 2022 to June 2022 among regular undergraduate female Health Sciences students of Addis Ababa University. Methods: Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS. Results were presented using descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis was conducted to look at the existence of significant associations and determine adjusted odds ratio. Statistical significance was declared at p-value ⩽0.05. Results: The majority of the study participants were within the age range of 18–24 years. From the 305 female Health Sciences students, almost all had heard about cervical cancer and 93.4% of them reported that human papillomavirus is the causative agent. About 75% of the respondents recognized at least one possible symptom of cervical cancer. Furthermore, nearly 70% and 78.3% of the participants showed positive attitudes toward taking and recommending human papillomavirus vaccines respectively. Only 16.1% and 48.9% of the respondents have good knowledge, and a positive attitude respectively. Surprisingly only 1.6% and 0.3% of the respondents have taken the human papillomavirus vaccine and undergone cervical screening respectively. Radiography technology students are about 86% less likely to have good knowledge compared to students in other fields of study ( p = 0.04). Furthermore, year 4 and above students have significantly higher knowledge (89.2%) compared to those in years 1–3 (58%; AOR: 0.14, 95% CI: 0.05, 0.35). Conclusion: The knowledge of female Health Sciences students on cervical cancer was moderate, and about half had a positive attitude. However, their practice of human papillomavirus screening and vaccination was very low. Level of education and field of study were significantly associated with the knowledge of cervical cancer. Addressing gaps through awareness programs, and enhancing accessible health services can help empower these future health professionals.