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    Antihypertensive Medication Use and Biochemical Outcomes in Primary Care Patients: A Multicenter Study in Kosovo
    (Oriental Scientific Publishing Company, 2026-03-20)
    Alidema, Fitim
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    Kostovska, Irena
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    Alidema, Arieta Hasani
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    Mustafa, Lirim
    Arterial hypertension remains a major public health challenge that requires longterm pharmacological management; however, antihypertensive therapy may also be associated with metabolic and biochemical alterations. This multicenter retrospective study evaluated the association between antihypertensive drug use and biochemical parameters among primary care patients in Kosovo and compared outcomes across three healthcare centers (Prishtina, Ferizaj, and Gjilan). A total of 900 patients with essential hypertension receiving continuous treatment for at least 12 months were included. Data were extracted from medical records and laboratory registers between January 2024 and January 2025 and comprised demographic variables, treatment regimens (monotherapy or combination therapy), and biochemical parameters, including lipid profile, fasting glucose, renal markers, and electrolytes. Statistical analyses included ANOVA or Kruskal–Wallis tests, chi-square tests, correlation analysis, and multivariate logistic regression. Combination therapy was associated with significantly higher levels of LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and creatinine compared to monotherapy (p < 0.05), while lipid alterations were more prominent among patients treated with beta-blockers and diuretics (p < 0.01). The use of two or more antihypertensive drug classes independently predicted an increased risk of dyslipidemia (OR 1.8, 95% CI: 1.2–2.5; p = 0.004). No significant differences were observed in glucose levels between the study centers (p = 0.21). Long-term antihypertensive therapy, particularly polytherapy, is associated with clinically relevant biochemical changes affecting lipid metabolism and renal function, highlighting the necessity for routine laboratory monitoring and individualized treatment optimization in primary care practice.
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    Pharmacotherapy of Mental Illness in the Mental Health Centers in Kosovo During 2021
    (Scientific Foundation Spiroski, 2022)
    Alidema, Fitim
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    ;
    Hasani-Alidema, Arieta
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    Halilaj-Vishi, Behrije
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    Alilaj-Beqira, Minire
    BACKGROUND: Treatment of mental illness with pharmacotherapy is strictly monitored in clinical centers dedicated to this purpose. While in most developed countries, this practice is well established, in Kosovo, in the absence of such a system, there is the need for further and continued investigation in this context with the aim to better monitor the therapy. AIM: This work aims to analyze and investigate the treatment of patients with mental illness in the Mental Health (MH) Centers in Kosovo. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The methodology of this research work is based on the specific guidelines published by the World Health Organization (WHO) - Handbook of the WHO. All patients’ data were obtained from the protocol books of the treated patients. In each of MH-Centers in Kosovo, 30 patients were selected according to the theory of probability and were analyzed. A total of 209 patients were enrolled in the study. We used quantitative analysis of described drug therapy, while disorders were categorized according to the International Classification of Diseases-10R. RESULTS: Drugs were mainly administered through the mouth, per os (82.4%). According to the clinics, there was no significant change in the administration route of the drugs (p > 0.11). Almost, two-third of the prescribed drugs were essential (66.1%). Considering the class of the therapeutic drugs, over half of them were antipsychotic (53.2%), whereas a percentage of 17.2% and 13.8% were anticholinergic and anxiolytic/hypnotic drugs, accordingly. These classes of drugs were 84.2% of the overall used drugs. Taken together, in the MH Centers in Kosovo, drugs are mainly administered orally, with only 17.6% of the cases treated parenterally. The majority of the drugs used are non-essential drugs, with antipsychotics being the most prescribed ones. CONCLUSIONS: Furthermore, the study highlights the use of third-line therapy as a first choice and the use of effective drugs with low safety profiles such as clozapine. The application of the practice of drug prescribing by essential list without consideration of data by new evidence-based research for the treatment of mentally disordered patients should be addressed and considered by stakeholders and policymakers in the Ministry of Health of Kosovo for future strategies in selection and in the providing the new essential list in psychopharmacology