Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards the Use of Over-the-Counter Medicines: An Online Survey among Bruneian Adults amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Dzulkharnain, Faiqah Batrisyia Syaza Bahrin Bahrin; Shafqat, N.; Hermansyah, Andi; Tan, Ching Siang; Koh, David; Goh, Khang Wen; Ming, Long Chiau

doi:10.3390/su14159033

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 17 publications

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“…As for education, there was a clear trend towards more OTC medication use among parents with an undergraduate education. Similarly, two clinical studies showed that almost all of the students (99.7% and 92.3%), including undergraduates and postgraduates, had a positive attitude towards the use of OTC medications, and only a few students used OTC medicine inappropriately, such as not reading the instructions or taking more than the recommended dose [18,19]. We also found an explicit association between education and self-medication with OTCs (p < 0.001).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Over-the-Counter Medication Use among Parents in Saudi Arabia

Mirdad

Esheba

Mousa³

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Introduction: Self-medication is a growing public health concern worldwide. Studies have shown a gap between best practice and the current practice of using over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Despite being a well-recognised problem in Saudi Arabia, few studies have investigated OTC medication use in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the attitudes and knowledge of parents regarding OTC medication use in the Jeddah region, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out via an electronic questionnaire sent randomly to parents over four months, from 1 January to 30 April 2022. The participants’ characteristics and categorical variables were represented descriptively by frequency and percentage. A Chi-square test was used to test the relationship between the variables. Results: In total, 211 questionnaires were included in this study. Females represented 54.5% of the participants included in the study. Parents belonging to the 18-to-30-year-old group comprised the highest percentage (37.9%), and most of the parents (72.9%) had received an undergraduate education. Family physicians were the most common source (37.3%) of information about OTC medications, whereas more than half of parents purchased OTC medications from the community pharmacy (58.8%). While almost half of the parents (52.1%) visited a family physician when side effects of OTC medications appeared in their children, only (33.6%) stopped giving their children the OTC medicine. The relationship between the sociodemographic characteristics (including educational level, marital status, and employment status) and OTC drug consumption was significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Educational campaigns are needed to guide patients about the proper use of OTC medications. Studies on OTC medication use are lacking in Saudi Arabia in terms of its frequency, reasons for use, type of self-medication, and contributing factors.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Over-the-Counter Medication Use among Parents in Saudi Arabia

Mirdad

Esheba

Mousa³

et al. 2023

IJERPH

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Prevalence and Factors Influencing Self-Medication among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in Urban Tertiary Hospitals in Nigeria

Edet

Wegbom

Samuel

et al. 2023

BioMed

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Despite the adverse effects of self-medication (SM), such as antimicrobial drug resistance, drug addiction, allergy, worsening of ailment, organ damage, disability, and death, the practice is still common and increasingly practiced globally, even among pregnant women. This study investigated the prevalence and factors influencing self-medication among pregnant women attending antenatal clinics in urban tertiary hospitals in Nigeria. A facility-based cross-sectional study was carried out in two tertiary hospitals in Port Harcourt between 25 September and 24 October 2022, using an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and logistics regression techniques, and statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. A total of 413 respondents participated in the study. The prevalence of SM was 31.0% (95% CI = 26.7–73.3). Women who were not married and those with less than secondary education had the highest prevalence, 60.5% (95% CI = 45.1–74.0) and 51.1% (95% CI = 42.7–59.4), respectively. The common drugs used for SM were Paracetamol, antimalarials, antibiotics, cough and cold medicines, and herbal products. While the reasons for SM were emergency illness, high cost at health facilities, and distance to the health facility. The commonest illnesses/symptoms that necessitated SM included body pain, headache, fever, cold and cough, and vaginal discharge. Married women and those educated above the secondary level had lower odds of practicing SM compared to their counterparts; married (AOR = 0.37, 95% CI = 0.18–0.78) and >secondary level (AOR = 0.31, 95% CI = 0.18–0.51). This study showed that a significant proportion of pregnant women practiced SM and marital status and educational level were the factors influencing SM in the studied population. We recommend public health education and reproductive health programmes aimed at discouraging unmarried women and those with minimal education from the irrational use of drugs during pregnancy.

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Knowledge, Attitude and Practice towards the Use of Over-the-Counter Medicines: An Online Survey among Bruneian Adults amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

Cited by 2 publications

References 17 publications

Over-the-Counter Medication Use among Parents in Saudi Arabia

Over-the-Counter Medication Use among Parents in Saudi Arabia

Prevalence and Factors Influencing Self-Medication among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in Urban Tertiary Hospitals in Nigeria

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