Cargando…
Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Female University Students During Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia
Introduction Those who practice self-care using over-the-counter (OTC) products believe that these medications are relatively safe. They can be used to treat mild illnesses that do not require medical consultation. However, improper self-medication using OTC medicines because of inadequate knowledge...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
---|---|
Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Cureus
2023
|
Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10164448/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37162782 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.37269 |
_version_ | 1785038069611626496 |
---|---|
author | Hamad M Alomaim, Lama Faleh Alnefaie, Ameera Abdullah Alowaymir, Norah Saleh Alahedb, Nouf Abdulrahman Omar A Alomair, Hailah Saud M Alanazi, Rana Dakheel Alanazi, Lamya Zaid Naif Alshalawi, Haya Abdullah Albrahim, Tarfa |
author_facet | Hamad M Alomaim, Lama Faleh Alnefaie, Ameera Abdullah Alowaymir, Norah Saleh Alahedb, Nouf Abdulrahman Omar A Alomair, Hailah Saud M Alanazi, Rana Dakheel Alanazi, Lamya Zaid Naif Alshalawi, Haya Abdullah Albrahim, Tarfa |
author_sort | Hamad M Alomaim, Lama |
collection | PubMed |
description | Introduction Those who practice self-care using over-the-counter (OTC) products believe that these medications are relatively safe. They can be used to treat mild illnesses that do not require medical consultation. However, improper self-medication using OTC medicines because of inadequate knowledge of their side effects and interactions can result in drug-related issues and even death. The current study was performed using the foundation year students of Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University (PNU) as subjects, to examine the use of OTC medicines during examination times. Methods This cross-sectional study was done on 213 (response rates 87.7%) foundation-year female students in the Health Colleges at PNU in Riyadh. Using a 26-item, self-administered, online questionnaire, data were collected. Results It was found that more than 50% of the students used OTC medicines habitually during exam periods. A majority (90.6%; p< 0.0001) of the students mentioned that the overuse of Panadol Extra was very safe while 67.6% (p< 0.0001) of them declared that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) would not induce stomach ulcer formation. A higher percentage (67.6%; p<0.0001) of the students confirmed using OTC medicines during exam time for headache relief. A higher percentage (72.8%; p< 0.0001) of the students indicated that because the OTC medications were readily available and they believed these drugs were safe, they used sizable quantities during the time of the examinations. Furthermore, 69% (p< 0.0001) of the students confessed that because of a friend’s recommendations, they started trying OTC medicine. Above 67% (p< 0.0001) stated that OTC medications are inexpensive and easily available in Saudi Arabia. Conclusion To conclude, the findings of this study reiterated the high usage of OTC medicines by female students during the time of examination, and the highest used were painkillers. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-10164448 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2023 |
publisher | Cureus |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-101644482023-05-08 Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Female University Students During Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia Hamad M Alomaim, Lama Faleh Alnefaie, Ameera Abdullah Alowaymir, Norah Saleh Alahedb, Nouf Abdulrahman Omar A Alomair, Hailah Saud M Alanazi, Rana Dakheel Alanazi, Lamya Zaid Naif Alshalawi, Haya Abdullah Albrahim, Tarfa Cureus Healthcare Technology Introduction Those who practice self-care using over-the-counter (OTC) products believe that these medications are relatively safe. They can be used to treat mild illnesses that do not require medical consultation. However, improper self-medication using OTC medicines because of inadequate knowledge of their side effects and interactions can result in drug-related issues and even death. The current study was performed using the foundation year students of Princess Nourah Bint Abdul Rahman University (PNU) as subjects, to examine the use of OTC medicines during examination times. Methods This cross-sectional study was done on 213 (response rates 87.7%) foundation-year female students in the Health Colleges at PNU in Riyadh. Using a 26-item, self-administered, online questionnaire, data were collected. Results It was found that more than 50% of the students used OTC medicines habitually during exam periods. A majority (90.6%; p< 0.0001) of the students mentioned that the overuse of Panadol Extra was very safe while 67.6% (p< 0.0001) of them declared that nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) would not induce stomach ulcer formation. A higher percentage (67.6%; p<0.0001) of the students confirmed using OTC medicines during exam time for headache relief. A higher percentage (72.8%; p< 0.0001) of the students indicated that because the OTC medications were readily available and they believed these drugs were safe, they used sizable quantities during the time of the examinations. Furthermore, 69% (p< 0.0001) of the students confessed that because of a friend’s recommendations, they started trying OTC medicine. Above 67% (p< 0.0001) stated that OTC medications are inexpensive and easily available in Saudi Arabia. Conclusion To conclude, the findings of this study reiterated the high usage of OTC medicines by female students during the time of examination, and the highest used were painkillers. Cureus 2023-04-07 /pmc/articles/PMC10164448/ /pubmed/37162782 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.37269 Text en Copyright © 2023, Hamad M Alomaim et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
spellingShingle | Healthcare Technology Hamad M Alomaim, Lama Faleh Alnefaie, Ameera Abdullah Alowaymir, Norah Saleh Alahedb, Nouf Abdulrahman Omar A Alomair, Hailah Saud M Alanazi, Rana Dakheel Alanazi, Lamya Zaid Naif Alshalawi, Haya Abdullah Albrahim, Tarfa Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Female University Students During Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia |
title | Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Female University Students During Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia |
title_full | Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Female University Students During Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia |
title_fullStr | Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Female University Students During Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia |
title_full_unstemmed | Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Female University Students During Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia |
title_short | Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Female University Students During Examinations: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia |
title_sort | prevalence of self-medication among female university students during examinations: a cross-sectional study in saudi arabia |
topic | Healthcare Technology |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10164448/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37162782 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.37269 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT hamadmalomaimlama prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia AT falehalnefaieameera prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia AT abdullahalowaymirnorah prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia AT salehalahedbnoufabdulrahman prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia AT omaraalomairhailah prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia AT saudmalanazirana prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia AT dakheelalanazilamyazaid prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia AT naifalshalawihayaabdullah prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia AT albrahimtarfa prevalenceofselfmedicationamongfemaleuniversitystudentsduringexaminationsacrosssectionalstudyinsaudiarabia |