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Consumers' awareness, attitude and associated factors towards self-medication in Hail, Saudi Arabia.

ABSTRACT: OBJECTIVES:To determine the factors motivating the consumers towards self-medication, the intended indications and the consumers' perceptions about complications that may arise due to its use. DESIGN:Cross-sectional community based prospective study. PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY:Community pharmacies located at various locations of Hail, Saudi Arabia from January 2019 to March 2019. METHODS:The subjects of this cross-sectional study were people visiting community pharmacies for self-medication. Data on 663 participants was collected through a validated questionnaire prepared on the basis of WHO guidelines for the regulatory assessment of medicinal products for use in self-medication. Two trained data collectors visited the randomly selected community pharmacies, approached and interviewed the consumers purchasing medicines without prescriptions. Data was entered in SPSS and analyzed using descriptive and inferential analyses (alpha level = 0.05). RESULTS:Out of 663 respondents, 68.6% were university graduates; and 33.9% were healthcare professionals. Consumers preferred self-medication mainly for headache (85.8%), cold and sore throat (80.8%), cough (75.7%) and fever (71.8%) with the justification that these illnesses were minor (90.2%), time saving (82.2%), convenient (74.7%), quicker relief (66.1%), and economical (61.2%). Occupation was significantly associated with the reasons for preferring self-medication (p<0.001). Similarly, age, gender and education were also significantly associated with most of the reasons for opting self-medication. People were quite aware about harmful consequences of self-medication. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the respondents with lower education (AOR = 2.404 [95% CI: 1.579-3.661]), non-healthcare professionals (AOR = 1.712 [95% CI: 1.143-2.565]) and higher monthly income (AOR = 0.376 [95% CI: 0.236-0.599]) preferred self-medication (p <0.001, p = 0.009, p <0.001) respectively. CONCLUSION:Self-medication was prevalent among young university graduate males for minor ailments mainly due to convenience and time saving. Despite people beliefs about the harmful consequences of self-medication, its use was omnipresent particularly among the respondents with lower education, non-healthcare professionals and people with higher monthly income.

SUBMITTER: Ansari M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7188286 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Consumers' awareness, attitude and associated factors towards self-medication in Hail, Saudi Arabia.

Ansari Mukhtar M Alanazi Abdulrahman A Moin Afrasim A

PloS one 20200428 4

<h4>Objectives</h4>To determine the factors motivating the consumers towards self-medication, the intended indications and the consumers' perceptions about complications that may arise due to its use.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional community based prospective study.<h4>Place and duration of study</h4>Community pharmacies located at various locations of Hail, Saudi Arabia from January 2019 to March 2019.<h4>Methods</h4>The subjects of this cross-sectional study were people visiting community pharm ...[more]

PMID: 32343748

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Project description:Background: Self-medication is an important issue for health authorities around the world. It is also a common practice among university students. Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of and reasons for self-medication among university students. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional community based survey design was adopted for the current study. All the students enrolled in Hail University, Saudi Arabia were selected to include in the study. Data was collected from February to April 2020 using a validated questionnaire and were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics, Version 22.0. Using convenient sampling technique, the total sample size calculated was 370 participants. A descriptive analysis was performed. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression was used for analyzing the data where statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Results: A total of 373 participants completed the questionnaire. The response rate was 84%. The overall prevalence of self-medication among the students was 98.2%. Of the 373 participants, 40.8% were men, and 59.2% were women. Furthermore, 56% were in fields other than health sciences, 23.1% were in preparatory foundation courses, and 20.9% were from the health and medical sciences. The most frequent medical condition that led to self-medication was headaches (92.85%), followed by coughs (37.5%), colic (31.9%) and influenza (30.3%). On univariate analysis, it is revealed that for both abdominal colic [OR 0.54 (0.34-0.86), p = 0.01] and constipation [OR 0.57 (0.32-1.02), p 0.05], female gender was observed significantly with low prevalence than male. However, for influenza, the self-medication prevalence [OR 1.86 (1.19-2.91), p = 0.006] observed was significantly higher in female participants than male. A significant association (p = 0.011) between the self-medication factors and gender was shown in the current study results. Conclusion: An alarming prevalence of self-medication among the students was recorded. Health care providers can increase awareness of the issue by educating individuals about the harmful effects of irresponsible self-medication.

Project description:BackgroundCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new variable of the Coronaviridae family. COVID-19 spreads primarily by contacting the virus either from a COVID-19-infected individual through coughing or sneezing or from COVID-19-contaminated surfaces. On March 12, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced COVID-19 as a pandemic. The government of Saudi Arabia was among the first countries in the world to take quick and serious precautions. The Ministry of Health (MOH) has made the public aware of the virus transmission patterns and the importance of quarantine and curfew. Despite strict measures taken, the awareness of people towards infectious viruses remains the most important factor in limiting the widespread of diseases.MethodA cross-sectional survey of 1767 participants, was conducted to explore the awareness, attitude and practice of COVID-19 in relation to socioeconomic data among residents in the city of Riyadh.ResultsOf all the participants, 58% showed a moderate level of awareness, 95% presented a high attitude and 81% presented an adequate practice regarding COVID-19. Significant positive correlation between awareness-attitude (r = 0.132, p-value < 0.001) and attitude-practice (r = 0.149, p-value < 0.001) were found. The gender of the participants was the only common characteristic significantly associated with both awareness and practice. This study revealed that males showed a slight increase (60%) in the level of awareness compared to female participants (57%), however, when it comes to the practice towards COVID-19, females showed slightly better practice (82%) than males (80%). The World health organization (WHO) and the Ministry of Health (MOH) were the main sources of information.ConclusionDespite the moderate public awareness, their attitude and practice were better. Therefore, public awareness must be improved to be prepared for epidemic and pandemic situations. A comprehensive public health education program is important to increase awareness and to reach sufficient knowledge.

Project description:BackgroundHuman papillomavirus (HPV) is a well-known cause of cervical cancer. The prevalence of HPV, insufficient preventive services, inadequate treatment access, socioeconomic conditions, certain cultural causes and values and opinions regarding cervical cancer have been established as factors contributing to the occurrence of cervical cancer in various parts of the world.ObjectiveTo determine university students' knowledge, attitudes and perceptions regarding HPV and its vaccine.Material and methodsThe present cross-sectional study included students enrolled at the University of Hail, Saudi Arabia. Data were collected from January to May 2020 using a previously validated 26-item questionnaire.ResultsA total of 386 participants responded to the survey; the response rate was 80%. The majority of the respondents (63%) were male and 332 (86%) respondents were single among the overall study population. Most respondents were aged 21-25 years (75.6%), followed by 26-30 years (12.7%). In total, 130 (33.7%) respondents reported that they had heard of HPV before, while 174 (45.1%) reported that HPV infections are rare in Saudi Arabia. Furthermore, 102 (26.4%) respondents thought that HPV causes genital warts, while almost 29.5% believed that HPV infection is a sexually transmitted disease. Nearly 76.2% of the respondents did not believe that HPV infection can occur without symptoms. Moreover, 53.4% of the respondents stated that they did not know the health problems associated with HPV infection, while 148 (38.8%) stated that cervical cancer is a health problem associated with HPV infection. When asked about their understanding of the HPV vaccine, nearly 267 (62.2%) respondents believed that there is no vaccine for HPV, while 239 (61.9%) believed that the vaccine does not minimise the risk of cervical cancer. In addition, the respondents reported that they would be far more likely to get an HPV vaccine if recommended by their doctors [relative importance index (RII) = 0.745], followed by their friends (RII = 0.675).ConclusionThe present findings provide a clear understanding of university students' knowledge, perceptions and attitudes regarding HPV; this information can be used to raise awareness by developing an effective educational strategy. However, further research with a larger sample size is recommended; such efforts would also aid in the development of educational services for various age ranges.

Project description:BackgroundTeledentistry is believed to improve dentalcare provided to patients and time management efficiency. In addition, teledentistry can be a useful tool for peer education, consultations and ensures proper channeling for referrals.ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore Saudi Arabian dental professionals' perceptions of teledentistry's benefits in improving dental practice and patient care.MethodsA descriptive cross-sectional study involving an electronic survey of a sample of Saudi Arabian dental professionals. A validated 26-item, 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire was used to assess perceptions of dental professionals in four domains: usefulness of teledentistry for patients, the usefulness of teledentistry for dental practice; the potential of teledentistry to improve practice; and existing concerns about the use of teledentistry. Statistical analyses involved descriptive statistics, bivariate analysis using SPSS software. Significant differences were considered at a p-value of 0.05.ResultsWith an overall response rate of 28.6%, 286 dental professionals participated in the study. More than 70% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that teledentistry would improve dental practice through enhancing communication with peers, guidance and referral of new patients. A substantial proportion of respondents (60-70%) expressed uncertainty with technical reliability, privacy and diagnostic accuracy. The participants' qualification was statistically significant with usefulness of teledentistry for patients (p = 0.027), while work experience in years was statistically significant with both usefulness of teledentistry for dental practice and patients (p = 0.046 and <0.0001 respectively).ConclusionGenerally, the feedback gained by this study showed readiness of the dental professionals to be engaged in the teledentistry approach. Further investigation of the business model of teledentistry is needed to understand the readiness and challenges. Directed campaign to educate dentists and the public of the technology and it is potential is necessary.

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Consumers' awareness, attitude and associated factors towards self-medication in Hail, Saudi Arabia.

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Consumers' awareness, attitude and associated factors towards self-medication in Hail, Saudi Arabia.

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