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Perspectives of and Experience toward the Abuse of Antidiarrheal Drug (Loperamide) among Community Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to assess the ability of community pharmacists to recognize cases of loperamide abuse at the point of sale, their perspective of and experience toward potential abuse cases. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jordan, using a self-administered online questionnaire. The...

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Autores principales: Barakat, Muna, Akour, Amal, Malaeb, Diana, Cherri, Sarah, Al.Safadi, Wala’a, Al.Safadi, Ala’a, Wazaify, Mayyada
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10379004/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37510632
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20146400
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author Barakat, Muna
Akour, Amal
Malaeb, Diana
Cherri, Sarah
Al.Safadi, Wala’a
Al.Safadi, Ala’a
Wazaify, Mayyada
author_facet Barakat, Muna
Akour, Amal
Malaeb, Diana
Cherri, Sarah
Al.Safadi, Wala’a
Al.Safadi, Ala’a
Wazaify, Mayyada
author_sort Barakat, Muna
collection PubMed
description This study aimed to assess the ability of community pharmacists to recognize cases of loperamide abuse at the point of sale, their perspective of and experience toward potential abuse cases. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jordan, using a self-administered online questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of three main parts: demographics, the experience of pharmacists with abusers’ behavior, as well as their perspectives toward loperamide abuse. Results: A total of 250 community pharmacists completed the survey, 54% (135) of which were female. Almost one-third (33.2%; 83) of the participants reported exposure to suspected cases of loperamide abuse during the last six months. Pharmacists declared that most of the suspected loperamide abusers were male (60.2%), of middle–low socioeconomic status (69.9%), and between 20 and 30 years of age (57.8%). The largest quantity (packs) of loperamide requested by a single patient was around 33.2 ± 14.9 at once. As reported by pharmacists, the suspected reasons behind loperamide abuse included 50% seeking euphoria, 17% relieving anxiety, and 33% controlling addiction (weaning off other opioids). The multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between the male sex (OR = 1.2, 95% CI 0.12–1.59), pharmacy location in the center of Jordan (OR = 21.2, 95% CI 2.45–183.59), late-night working shift (Shift C, OR = 1.29, 95% CI 0.12–2.08), and abuse to loperamide during the last six months. Conclusions: This study sheds light on loperamide abuse potentials, which could be influenced by different sociodemographic characteristics. Accordingly, close monitoring and thorough tackling of the abuse practices are mandated through an increase in educational and awareness campaigns about proper medication use.
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spelling pubmed-103790042023-07-29 Perspectives of and Experience toward the Abuse of Antidiarrheal Drug (Loperamide) among Community Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study Barakat, Muna Akour, Amal Malaeb, Diana Cherri, Sarah Al.Safadi, Wala’a Al.Safadi, Ala’a Wazaify, Mayyada Int J Environ Res Public Health Article This study aimed to assess the ability of community pharmacists to recognize cases of loperamide abuse at the point of sale, their perspective of and experience toward potential abuse cases. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Jordan, using a self-administered online questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of three main parts: demographics, the experience of pharmacists with abusers’ behavior, as well as their perspectives toward loperamide abuse. Results: A total of 250 community pharmacists completed the survey, 54% (135) of which were female. Almost one-third (33.2%; 83) of the participants reported exposure to suspected cases of loperamide abuse during the last six months. Pharmacists declared that most of the suspected loperamide abusers were male (60.2%), of middle–low socioeconomic status (69.9%), and between 20 and 30 years of age (57.8%). The largest quantity (packs) of loperamide requested by a single patient was around 33.2 ± 14.9 at once. As reported by pharmacists, the suspected reasons behind loperamide abuse included 50% seeking euphoria, 17% relieving anxiety, and 33% controlling addiction (weaning off other opioids). The multivariate logistic regression analysis demonstrated a significant correlation between the male sex (OR = 1.2, 95% CI 0.12–1.59), pharmacy location in the center of Jordan (OR = 21.2, 95% CI 2.45–183.59), late-night working shift (Shift C, OR = 1.29, 95% CI 0.12–2.08), and abuse to loperamide during the last six months. Conclusions: This study sheds light on loperamide abuse potentials, which could be influenced by different sociodemographic characteristics. Accordingly, close monitoring and thorough tackling of the abuse practices are mandated through an increase in educational and awareness campaigns about proper medication use. MDPI 2023-07-19 /pmc/articles/PMC10379004/ /pubmed/37510632 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20146400 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Barakat, Muna
Akour, Amal
Malaeb, Diana
Cherri, Sarah
Al.Safadi, Wala’a
Al.Safadi, Ala’a
Wazaify, Mayyada
Perspectives of and Experience toward the Abuse of Antidiarrheal Drug (Loperamide) among Community Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study
title Perspectives of and Experience toward the Abuse of Antidiarrheal Drug (Loperamide) among Community Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full Perspectives of and Experience toward the Abuse of Antidiarrheal Drug (Loperamide) among Community Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_fullStr Perspectives of and Experience toward the Abuse of Antidiarrheal Drug (Loperamide) among Community Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_full_unstemmed Perspectives of and Experience toward the Abuse of Antidiarrheal Drug (Loperamide) among Community Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_short Perspectives of and Experience toward the Abuse of Antidiarrheal Drug (Loperamide) among Community Pharmacists: A Cross-Sectional Study
title_sort perspectives of and experience toward the abuse of antidiarrheal drug (loperamide) among community pharmacists: a cross-sectional study
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10379004/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37510632
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20146400
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