Background: In the Philippines, 34 Filipinos are killed daily due to road injuries. Of the reported road traffic fatalities, 25% in the world, 34% in South East Asia, and 53% in the Philippines are riders of motorized two- or three-wheeled vehicles. Objectives: Considering that motorcycle drivers are most affected by road-related injuries in Metro Manila, this study aimed to determine the prevalence of helmet use, identify the factors affecting the intent to use helmets, and determine the factors associated with consistent helmet use among motorcycle drivers in District IV, Quezon City. Methods: Eight barangays were included in the sample and respondents were chosen through systematic random sampling. Results: A self-administered questionnaire was used. There were 421 respondents with a prevalence for consistent helmet-use of 67.46% (CI 95%: 62.81-71.78). It was found that the aggregate belief score was associated with the intention to use helmets. Meanwhile, every unit increase in knowledge score increased the odds of consistent helmet use by 1.21 (95% CI: 1.06-1.37). In addition, those with intention were 7.48 times more likely to consistently wear helmets than those who do not (95% CI: 2.80- 19.97). Conclusion Various sub-factors such as experience, formal driving education, perceived behavioral control, benefits, and ergonomic barriers may have contributed to the result; however, further studies are needed to establish these relationships.
Intention ; Health Belief Model ; Theory of Planned Behavior

BACKGROUND

Perampanel is an antagonist of the a-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor. It is currently FDA-approved to treat focal and generalized tonic-clonic seizures in epilepsy, but recent evidence suggests its potential in treating severe and refractory tremors.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the safety and efficacy of perampanel in treating tremors via a systematic review of existing literature. 

METHODS

We performed a literature search on five large databases (PubMed, Cochrane, Google Scholar, HERDIN, and Scopus) for clinical studies within the last 10 years and screened a total of 1,539 unique articles for full assessment. We filtered out papers on epilepsy as well as hypokinetic diseases and assessed nine articles for quality assessment and review.

RESULTS

A total of four case reports/series, four open-label trials, and one randomized controlled trial were assessed to be of fair to good quality. All trials showed that low-dose perampanel (2-4 mg/day) was safe and well-tolerated with minor adverse events reported by participants. A net benefit from baseline was observed in patients with essential and primary orthostatic tremors. However, current evidence is weak because the trials employed a non-randomized before-after study design with a small sample size and significant dropout rates.

CONCLUSION

Low-dose perampanel at 2-4 mg/day shows promising potential in treating refractory tremors and myoclonus in recent clinical studies, but current evidence is weak or anecdotal. Additional randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the conclusive benefit of perampanel for hyperkinesia.

Human ; Perampanel ; Receptors, Ampa ; Dystonia ; Tremor ; Myoclonus ; Hyperkinesia ; Hyperkinesis