Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Unregistered Medicines Among Patients With Chronic Disease at Urban Health Clinic, Kelantan, Malaysia

Abstract

Introduction: Products registered with the National Pharmaceutical Regulatory Agency (NPRA) have two main features: MAL Registration Number and Meditag™ Hologram sticker. Both of these features need to be displayed on each pack of drug sales. Missing either one or both above features consider as unregistered medicines. This study aims to determine the prevalence and factors associated with knowledge, attitude and practice of unregistered medicines usage among patients with chronic disease attending Klinik Kesihatan Bandar Kota Bharu, Kelantan. Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 108 respondents using convenient sampling was conducted at the outpatient unit of Klinik Kesihatan Bandar Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia, from June 2019 to July 2019. Results: The prevalence of unregistered medicines usage was 15.7%. Although the respondents had good knowledge about unregistered medicines. More than half (64.8%) of respondents have good knowledge of unregistered knowledge and 91.7% of respondents have negative attitude towards unregistered medicines. Factors associated with practice of unregistered medicines use is found to be level of education and perceived of health believe. Lower education and perceived benefit of unregistered medicines 4 times and 12 times more likely to take unregistered medicines respectively compare to higher education level and perceived no health benefit. Conclusion: In conclusion, prevalence of unregistered medicines usage was 15.7%. More than half (64.8%) of the respondents were categorized as having good knowledge. We need to strengthen our education program to modify patient's belief on the non-benefit using unregistered medicines.