BackgroundAlthough over the counter (OTC) drugs are believed to be relatively safe, their inappropriate use could have serious implications. The aim of the study was to assess the practice of self-medication, prevalence of risky practice and its associated factors in pharmacy outlets of Asmara, Eritrea.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 609 customers in 20 pharmacy outlets in Asmara between August and September, 2017. Two-stage cluster sampling was employed and data were collected using a structured questionnaire through face to face exit interviews. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression were performed using SPSS (version 22).ResultsOf the 609 customers, 93.7% had practiced self-medication with OTC drugs; of which 81.8% were at risky practice. On average, each participant was using OTC drugs at least once a month (Median = 1, IQR = 3.67). Educational level (p < 0.0001), religion (p = 0.047), occupation (p = 0.027) and knowledge regarding OTC drugs (p = 0.019) were significantly associated with risky practice. Respondents with elementary and below educational level were fifteen times (AOR = 15.49, CI: 1.97, 121.80) at higher risk compared to those with higher education, and students were almost three times (AOR = 2.96, CI: 1.13, 7.73) at higher risk than governmental employees. Furthermore, respondents with below average score in knowledge were more likely to be engaged in risky practice (AOR = 1.83, CI: 1.11, 3.04) compared to those with above average score. The most frequently preferred OTC drug group was analgesics (34.3%) followed by antipyretics (15.7%) and cough and cold preparations (14.2%). About 14% of the respondents admitted that they had taken more than the recommended dose and 6.9% had experienced drug related problems following the consumption of OTC drugs. Always, 35% of the respondents read package insert(s) and 73.9% check expiry dates while purchasing OTC drugs. Refrigerating OTC drugs, where it is not recommended, was also one of the prominent risky practices.ConclusionsThis study revealed that inappropriate self-medication practice with OTC drugs was prevalent requiring early intervention to minimize the risks.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6470-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

An electrochemical approach to assessing the degree of electronic coupling in mixed-valence binuclear complexes is outlined. The method relies on the comparison of electrochemical potential shifts induced at both the directly and indirectly perturbed metal sites when a ligand substitution process is carried out at one site, e.g., [symmetric] ( N H~)~R U -L~~R U ( N H~)~~+ /~+ /~+ -[asymmetric] L(NH~)~RU-LI,,-R~(NH~)~~+/~+/~+, where the bridging ligandLbr is either pyrazine or 4-cyanopyridine and the perturbing ligand L is a substituted pyridine. It is found that the degree of electronic coupling in these systems is at least three times that which would be predicted based solely on spectroscopic measurements. The stabilization energy due to electron delocalization in these complexes can be accounted for with near-quantitative accuracy. It is also shown how the Mulliken analysis of the data allows for an estimation of the Wolfsberg-Helmholz constant K, which can be used in the calculation of off-diagonal matrix elements for molecular donor-acceptor interactions. (6) De la Rosa, R.; Chang, P. J.; Salaymeh, F.; Curtis, J. C. Inorg. Chem. 1985,24,4229-423 1. (7) Theuseofsubstitutbdpyridinesto'tune"thegroundandexcitcd electronic propcrticsof ruthenium amminecomplexes has been extensively employed by Ford and co-workers: (a) Malouf, G.; Ford, P. C.

Crystals of compound (I) and (II) are black in reflected light and brown-black in transmitted light. The 'H-nmr of the cations of (I), recorded in D6-DMSO, show peaks, relative to the 'H of D6-DMSO, at + 0.46 ppm(re1. int. = 3); +0.85 ppm(re1. int. = 1.2); + 1.80 ppm (rel. int. = 3); and -4.18 ppm(re1. int.=l). The magnetic susceptibility of (I) is C', (293.18 K ) = 588.45 x c.g.s. units, which corresponds to a &*=0.295 B.M. per Co ion; however, the small shifts and sharp 'H-nmr lines in the DMSO spectrum preclude the presence of paramagnetic clusters. Cyclic voltametry of the cation present in (I) shows highly distorted, irreversible, oxidation and reduction waves which indicate the lack of stability of any oxidized or reduced form -a fact which accords with the sharp lines of the N M R spectra; e.g., no stable paramagnetic species are present in (I). Compound ( l ) , M.W.=941.24, crystallizes in P21/n (No. 14), with cell constants a= 11.789(2), 6 = 13.855(2), c = 21.534(3) A, p = 91.94(1)"; V = 3515.44 A3, d (meas; z= 4) = 1.778gm-~m-~. A total of 4705 data were collected in the range 4" 5 2 8 5 50". They were corrected for absorption (p = 19.562cm-'; rel. trans. coeK range=0.8642 to 0.9997); of these, 2623 were unique and had I > 340. The structure was solved by direct methods, none of the hydrogens of the amine ligands were found experimentally at sensible positions; thus, they were left out. Refinement of the heavy atoms (anisotropic) ied to final residuals of R(F)=O.O637 and 0.0771. Compound (10, M.W.=950.20, crystallizes in space group P1 (bar; No. 2), with cell constants a= 12.858(3 , b = 12.475(2), c = 12.1 14(2)A, a=96.63(1), p=91.94(1) and y = in the range 4" 5 2 8 5 50". They were corrected for absorption (p=21.301cn-'; rel. trans. coeff. range = 0.7372 to 0.9998); of these, 4456 were unique and had I 2 340. The structure was 61.71(2)"; V = 1615.68 A ' , d(meas; z=2)= 1.953 g m -~m -~. A total of 5657 data were collected *In Memoriam Alfred Werner: On the 109th Anniversary of the Presentation of his $Participant in the Undergraduate Special Studies Program. Habilitationschnft, October, 1891. 185 Downloaded by [The University of Manchester Library] at 08:05 14 October 2014 186 I. BERNAL et al. solved by direct methods, the majority of the hydrogens of the amine ligands were found experimentally at sensible positions, the rest were calculated at idealized positions (N-H = 0.95A). The hydrogens of the OH ligands were located experimentally in a final difference Fourier map. Refinement of the heavy atoms (anisotropic) with fixed hydrogens (B= 5.00 8') led to final residuals of R(F) = 0.0348 and 0.0440. Precisely as visualized by Werner, the hexol cations consist of a central Co(II1) cation surrounded by three [Co(NH&(OH),] ' + ligands. In (I), the 0-Col -0 angles are acute (av. value = 82.97"), as expected from the electrostatic repulsion of the Co(II1) central cation and the monopositive ligands surrounding it. Consequently, the Co. . . .Co distances are long (2.896, 2.888 and 2.889 A; on average, 2.891 ...

The title compound, [cis-Co(en)2(NO2)2](N02) (1), crystallizes in the polar, nonenantiomorphic, monoclinic space group, Cc, with lattice constants: a = 9.198(2) •, b = 12.444(2), c = 9.963(3), and /3 = 96.76(2)~ V= 1132.39 ,~3 and d(calc; Z= 4) = 1.860 g cm 3. Thus, with NO2-as the counteranion, [cis-Oo(en)2(N02)2] crystallizes in a heterochiral lattice containing racemic pairs of cations, A total of 2699 data were collected over the range of 4 ~ -< 20 -< 70~ of these, 1859 (independent and with / -> 3~r (/)) were used in the structural analysis. Data were corrected for absorption (/~ = 15.465 cm -1) and the relative transmission coefficients ranged from 0.9934 to 0.7112. Refinement was carried out for both lattice polarities and the final R(F) and Rw(F) residuals were, respectively, 0.0242 and 0.0202 for (---) and 0.0264 and 0.0243 for (+++). Thus, the former was selected as correct for our specimen.Unlike all previous X-ray diffraction studies of the structural properties of the cation [cis-Co(en)2(N02)2] +, which are found to have a pair of oppositely configured en rings [i.e., ~(AB) or A(BA)], we find that in 1 the cations are in the lowest energy conformation and configuration; i.e., ~(AA) or A(8~). We attribute this change in configuration to the formation of strong interionic hydrogen bonds between nitrite anion oxygens and the axial--NH2 hydrogens, which markedly weaken the intermolecular and intramolecular hydrogen bonds between ligand --NO2 oxygens and the hydrogens of those same amine moieties. Thus, the nitrite anions behave exactly as nitrate *To whom correspondence should be addressed.anions, except that the hydrogen bonds found here are stronger than those formed by the latter. This is as expected since the negative charge is delocalized over two, instead of three, oxygens.