Abstract

PRACTICE OF OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUGS AMONG PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN BAHRI LOCALITY IN OCTOBER 2018

*Dr. Yusra Alsayed Ali Ahmed Osman and Dr. Osama Ahmed Abdelrahim, (MBBS, MPH, MDCM).

Abstract

Background: Over-the-counter drugs are drugs that are purchased without prescription. The WHO has pointed out that OTCs drugs can help prevent and treat aliments that do not require medical consultations. The nature and extent of using OTCs drugs indeed varies in different cultural contexts and socio-economic and educational influence of medical practice. Methods: this is a crosssectional community-based study conducted with people who live in Bahri locality and done in many pharmacies in 2018 through conventional selection. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS. Results: A total of 288 participants, about half of them (47.9%) were using OTCs drugs usually. The most common source of information about drugs was from previous prescription (44.1%) and most of them (82.6%) had got heir drugs from pharmacy. The most important reasons for using OTCs drugs was that there is no need to visit the doctor for minor illnesses (50%) and less cost (30%). About (77.8%) of the participants took analgesics followed by (52.8%) using antimicrobials. The results showed about 61% took OTCs drugs for headache and cough. The majority of participants hadn‟t exposed to adverse effects by using OTCs drugs(90.6%). The participants had been asked about their personal opinion in using OTCs drugs, about two third (61%) of them answered „yes‟. Conclusion: the most common types of OTCs used by the participants are analgesics and antimicrobials and the most common indications for using were headache and cough. The most important reasons of using OTCs drugs that is there is no need to visit the doctor for minor illnesses and to minimize the cost. The percentage of side effect was low among the participants (7.6%). Two third of the participants agreed with using OTCs drugs in their personal opinion.

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