Asia Life Sciences

Polypharmacy is prevalent among the aging population and has been a public health concern worldwide. Polypharmacy can have various negative effects on health, thus increasing the healthcare costs among the elderly. This study aimed to identify the prevalence and risk factors of polypharmacy among community-dwelling elderly in South Korea using nationally representative sample data. This cross-sectional, descriptive study used data from the 4th wave of the Living Condition of Elderly Study in South Korea conducted in 2017. The data of 12,290 participants aged ≥65 years were analyzed. Polypharmacy was defined as the use of five or more prescribed or non-prescribed medications for over 3 months. The prevalence of polypharmacy was 39.3%. The elderly showing a significant correlation with polypharmacy were predominantly women, older in age, less educated, and not married. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the greatest risk factor of polypharmacy was presence of angina or myocardial infarction (OR = 5.506, 95% CI = 4.528, 6.695, p < .001). The other risk factors included advanced age, a lower level of education, diagnoses of stroke, hyperlipidemia, hypertension, diabetes, low back pain, and depression. This study found that the prevalence of polypharmacy in community-dwelling older adults in South Korea was high. When controlled for other variables, advanced age, a lower education level, cardiovascular diseases, low back pain, and depression were found to be independent risk factors of polypharmacy. Further studies need to be conducted regarding changes in the prevalence of polypharmacy over time and its relationships with different variables in the long term

In 2019/2020, 23 sampling campaigns (one campaign per month) were carried out in two Moroccan stations at the mouths of Bouregreg (Rabat) and Sebu (Mehdia). The aim of this work is to study the biodiversity, abundance and ecology of marine plankton (phytoplankton). Three taxa were identified at the two stations such as Alexandrium sp; Dinophisis sp and Gymnodinum sp.At the Mehdia site, low densities are recorded during the winter and this for the three taxa, however these densities are maximum in spring and at the end of summer and beginning of autumn for Dinphisis with two peaks recorded in May (450 cells / ml) and in September (265 cells / ml).At the Rabat site these densities are maximum in autumn and summer for Gymnodinum with respectively rates of 860 cells / ml displayed in October and 850 cells / ml in August. On the other hand, the monthly distribution of Aexandrium shows that the peaks are recorded during the warm months (May = 165 cells / ml; August = 170 cells / ml and the month September = 160 cells / ml). The results of the physicochemical analyzes show that despite the somewhat high levels of phosphates and nitrates in the Mehdia site, the taxa therefore tolerate these levels. On the other hand, salinity and temperature represent two conditioning parameters of the growth of these phytoplankton.Taking into account the degree of abundance in the two sites of these taxa which are qualified toxic, the persons in charge must redouble their efforts to bring a biological balance with the other animal classes