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The aim of this study was to investigate abuse/misuse of prescription and nonprescription drugs in community pharmacies in Jordan by random distribution of a structured questionnaire to 405 pharmacies (November 2005-January 2006). Data were analyzed using SPSS for windows (version 14.0). Most respondents (94.1%) suspected that some level of abuse/misuse occurred in their pharmacy, which was highest for decongestants, cough/cold preparations, benzodiazepines, and antibiotics. Abuse/misuse of prescription and nonprescription drugs is present in Jordan, but current methods for controlling the problem are ineffective, and better methods should be developed. The study's limitations are noted..

The public in Jordan think highly of the pharmacy profession despite their confusion and uncontrolled consumption of OTC drugs. The findings of this study indicate that drug authorizing bodies in Jordan must be more proactive in promoting appropriate self-medication use and improving pharmaceutical services.

It is well known that the emergence of antibiotic resistance is linked to the misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Misuse includes self-medication and the inappropriate use of antibiotics because of improper dosage or improper duration than recommended. This study investigated three patterns of dispensing antibiotics in a sample of community pharmacies in Jordan. This included dispensing antibiotics by prescription or over-the-counter either by direct request or upon a pharmacist’s recommendation. The antibiotics dispensed were evaluated in terms of indication, appropriateness of dose, and duration of treatment based on the empirical treatment suggested by selected references: Lexicomp (2017) and UptoDate (2017) and the manufacturer’s recommendations. Of the 457 antibiotics dispensed, almost one third were without prescription. Of the antibiotics dispensed with prescription or without prescription, 31.5% and 24.6% respectively were appropriate dosage and duration ( p = 0.002). In the three patterns of dispensing, beta lactam antibiotics were the most commonly dispensed. In addition, it was noticed that there was a tendency to prescribe or dispense higher generations of antibiotics to cases that could have been treated with lower generation or safer antibiotics. Furthermore, 12.2% of the antibiotics were dispensed to treat infections that are not indicated for them. In conclusion, a significant proportion of antibiotics are dispensed without prescription in Jordan. Moreover, a considerable proportion of prescribed antibiotics were inappropriate for the conditions concerned. This indicates the importance of enforcing the Jordanian regulations prohibiting the dispensing of nonprescription antibiotics and the implementation of continuous education to physicians and pharmacists to increase awareness about the emergence of antibiotic resistance.

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