Thesis (PhD (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Medisynevoubiljette (MVB’s) is bekend vir hulle gebrek aan toeganklikheid. Dit word veral dan ook ’n ernstige aangeleentheid indien talle mense siek word en selfs onnodig sterf as gevolg van nie-nakoming of wanbegrip van die instruksies wat in hierdie dokumente voorsien word. Dit is logisties onmoontlik om ’n direkte verband te bewerkstellig tussen nie-nakoming en die tekortkoming van spesifieke mediese voubiljette. Dit is in beginsel ook moontlik om die MVB uit te skakel as moontlike oorsaak van nie-nakoming. Daarom word die beoogde funksies van die voubiljet bepaal, en ondersoekmetodes toegepas om die kwaliteit daarvan te bepaal. Sodoende word tekortkominge in hierdie dokumente teen die beoogde funksie van die dokumente blootgelê en word ruimte geskep vir die herontwerp van die dokumente. Die vakgebied Dokumentontwerp erken verskillende ondersoekmetodes wat op ’n kontinuum tussen teksgerig en lesergerig geplaas word. In hierdie studie word ’n teksgerigte studie uitgevoer deur middel van ’n kontrolelys wat opgestel is om die tekortkominge in medisynevoubiljette bloot te lê. Die teoretiese raamwerk waarbinne dit geskied is die Funksionele en die Sistemies Funksionele Linguistiek. ’n Kenmerk van dié raamwerk is dat dit genre betrek as die struktuur waarbinne dokumente opgestel en evalueer kan word. Die elemente van genre, naamlik register – met inbegrip van die konsepte diskoersveld, tenoor en modus - en kommunikatiewe doelwit, speel ’n belangrike rol hier en omvat beginsels waarby dokumentontwerpstudies kan baat. Die indelingskriterium wat gebruik word vir die genreindeling is doelwit wat implikasies inhou vir die resultate van teksevaluering. Om die daadwerklike kommunikatiewe geslaagdheid van die dokument te bepaal, word ’n lesergerigte studie uitgevoer in die vorm van ’n vraelysondersoek. Hierdeur word die verband gelê tussen die uitsprake wat gelewer word na toepassing van ’n kontrolelys en hoe die leser die teks ervaar. Die kontrolelys stel praktiese kwessies op die voorgrond. Die voordeel van kontrolelyste is dat hulle “Ja”- of “Nee”-antwoorde uitlok wat die evalueerder help om die resultate te kwantifiseer. Daar is ’n magdom faktore wat inwerk op ’n evalueerder se besluit om “Ja” of “Nee” te antwoord daarom moet die antwoorde gewoonlik gekwalifiseer word. Dit is juis in die kwalisering van antwoorde dat die kwantifiseerbare aspek daarvan ondermyn word. Daarom moet die stellings wat vir die kontrolelys geld, voorskriftelik wees. Voorskriftelikheid suggereer veralgemening wat die doel van die ondersoek kan verbysteek. Daarom is daar in die stellings probeer om soveel as moontlik van die omstandighede waaronder “Ja” of “Nee” geantwoord kan word te ondervang. Dit sorg ook in ’n mate vir die kwalitatiewe aspek van die studie. Die kwalitatiewe aspek word verder akkommodeer deur ruimte vir bespreking van die faktore wat teksopstellers se keuses inperk en vir aanbevelings vir verbetering van die stellings. Die benadering neem die polisentriese aard van besluitneming deur teksopstellers in ag. Die studie is bedryfsgerig. Die farmaseutiese bedryf erken die behoefte aan kommunikasie wat spesifiek op die leek gerig is. Daarom is daar deur die bedryf ’n studie geloods waarvoor bepaalde lesergerigte pasiëntinligtingsdokumete geskep is. Die bedryfsaspek van hierdie studie is in die vergelyking tussen hierdie tekstipe, wat die PID genoem word, en die MVB. Daar is ook opsigte waarin die PID verbeter kan word. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Pharmaceutical package inserts are renowned for their lack of accessibility. This can prompt a serious situation when people become ill and even die unnecessarily as a result of noncompliance with or misunderstanding of the instructions provided in these documents. It is logistically impossible to establish a direct relationship between non-compliance and the deficiencies of any given package insert. In principle it is possible to eliminate the pharmaceutical package insert as the possible cause of non-compliance. For this reason the envisaged functions of the inserts are established and research methods applied to determine their quality. In this way deficiencies in the document are exposed against the envisaged function of the document and the ground is prepared for these documents to be redesigned. The field Document Design recognizes various research methods which occupy different positions on the continuum between text orientation and reader orientation. In this study the text orientated study is conducted by means of a checklist that has been compiled to expose the shortcomings of pharmaceutical package inserts. The theoretical framework within which the study is undertaken is Functional and Systemic Functional Linguistics. A feature of this framework is that it involves genre as the structure within which documents are compiled and evaluated. The elements of genre, namely register – including the concepts field, tenor and mode – and communicative goals, play an important role here and incorporate concepts from which document design studies can benefit. The criterion for categorizing texts into genres is goal which has implications for the results of text evaluation. In order to determine the actual communicative success of a document, a reader orientated study is conducted in the form of a questionnaire. In this way the relationship between the findings after the application of the checklist and how the reader actually experiences the text is revealed. The checklist brings practical issues to the fore. The advantage of a checklist is that it invites “Yes” or “No” answers which help the evaluator to quantify the results. There is a multitude of factors influencing the evaluator’s decision to choose “Yes” or “No” and therefore the answers usually have to be qualified. It is in this qualification of the answer that the quantification is undermined. Therefore the statements that are valid for the checklist must be prescriptive. Prescriptiveness suggests generalisation which can go beyond the objective of the study. An attempt has therefore been made to preempt the circumstances under which “Yes” or “No” would be an appropriate answer. This, to some extent, takes care of the qualitative aspect of the study. The qualitative aspect is further accommodated by allowing space for the discussion of those factors that restricted the choices of text compilers and for the recommendations for improvement of the statements. The approach takes the polycentric nature of decision making by the text compiler into account. The study is industry orientated. The pharmaceutical industry acknowledges the need for communication that is specifically aimed at the lay person. For this reason the industry launched a study for the purposes of which a Patient Information Leaflet was compiled. The industry orientated part of this study resides in the comparison between this text type, called the PIL, and the existing package insert. There are areas in which the PIL too can be improved.

In an attempt to have medicines available in patient-ready packs (PRPs) prior to the dispensing process, the provincial medicine depots in South Africa have, for many years, been repackaging bulk medicines into PRPs. Notwithstanding the fact that bulk medicine packages may have been the only packages available from the manufacturers to service the Primary Health Care (PHC) sector, the main aim of this process was to ensure that medicines were available in PRPs for dispensing to patients, thus, minimising the time spent on each prescription by the pharmacist, pharmacist’s assistant or Nurse. Currently, some medicines are being procured in PRPs from the manufacturers, whereas others are still procured in bulk packs which must be repackaged into PRPs. After a thorough literature search, it was established that, up until this point in time, no studies have been performed to compare costs of repackaged medicines from bulk packs with costs of medicines procured from manufacturers in PRPs. There was very scanty literature comparing the use of medicines procured either in PRPs or bulk packs. However, literature on cost comparison between repackaging and purchasing of commercially available manufacturer-prepared PRPs was not identified.

This study tested the effectiveness of special packaging in increasing the medication compliance of hypertensive patients in the outpatient clinic at San Joaquin General Hospital. Seventy patients were randomly assigned to an experimental and control group. After a 6 week treatment period, the mean compliance estimates for the experimental and control groups (xl = 68.59%, x2 = 48.67%) were compared and found to be significantly different (t = 2.46, df = 33, p < .05). In addition, a statistically significant negative correlation was found between compliance and blood pressure (r = -0.51, p ~ .01).

In most hospitals today, plastic devices are replacing the traditional metal, glass and rubber. The increased use of polymeric materials as implanted prosthetic devices, catheters, disposable equipment and for the administration of blood, intravenous fluids and drugs has been widely accepted by the medical profession. This present study was designed to evaluate different types of plastics for potential use as large volume parenteral containers. Using several different therapeutic agents, a variety of plastic containers were examined for the possibility of the occurrence of drug-plastic interactions. The inclusion in the study of a commercially available plasticized product used for the administration of parenteral solutions was to compare the results of commercial products to non-commercial products.

The basic unmedicated formula consists of dextran, sorbitol, Miranol 2 MCA Modified, and water. The major advantages of the film are 1) fast release rates, 2) ease of application to denuded skin without aggravation, and 3) lack of necessity for removal, hence no aggravation. However, it is extremely sensitive to moisture and elevated temperatures which is a major disadvantage. Excessive humidity will solubilize the film or make it too tacky to handle while very low humidity causes the film to lose its flexibility. Also, elevated temperatures remove moisture from the film and cause it to lose flexibility much as with low humidities. This study was designed to evaluate further this new dosage form with respect to: (1) Modification of formula to minimize moisture sensitivity.; (2) Determination of a suitable packaging material.; (3) Determination of proper storage conditions.; (4) Determination of shelf-life of silver sulfadiazine and nitrofurazone dry foams.; (5) Determination of a suitable sterilization method(s).

Thesis (MPH.) -- University of Limpopo, 2019 / Virological failure occurs when the viral load fails to supress to undetectable limit and immunological failure is when the immune system fails to improve with the CD4 count remaining low on clients on antiretroviral drugs. These being markers of poor adherence to antiretroviral drugs or treatment failure. Upon routine blood-monitoring of students on antiretroviral drugs, the researcher noticed that some students’ viralload levels were not suppressing and their immune system was not improving. The purpose of the study was to identify the experiences of those students whose viral load is not suppressing and their immune system not improving. The objective was to identify and describe the experiences of students with immunological and virological failure on antiretroviral drugs at the University of Limpopo. A qualitative, explorative and descriptive study design was used. Convenience purposive sampling method was adopted. Using a semi-structured interview guide, face-toface interviews were conducted on 10 students on antiretroviral drugs at the Student Health and Wellness Centre, University of Limpopo. Techs’ method was used to analyse data. Guba’s model for establishing trustworthiness was used. The study yielded the following themes: Disclosure, stigma, antiretroviral drugs packaging, side effects of antiretroviral drugs and service delivery. The study concluded that students are afraid to take their treatment for fear of stigmatisation and disclosure is still a problem. Students tend to forfeit taking drugs when studying for examinations due to side effects of the drugs. It is recommended that service delivery and antiretroviral drugs packaging be user friendly. Key words: Disclosure, stigma, side effects, antiretroviral drugs packaging and antiretroviral drugs.