Prevalence Of Self-Medication With Antibiotics Among Residents In United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Background

Self-Medication with antibiotics is a human practice and attitude in which an individual uses antibiotics to treat self-diagnosed symptoms. The self-medication with antibiotics is a common practice among residents in the UAE.

Purpose

The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of self-medication of antibiotics among residents in the UAE population to determine its associated risk factors and to increase awareness regarding the abuse of antibiotics.

Patients and methods

Three hundred and fifteen participants from different public places in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah,UAE received the validated questionnaire over the five-month study period. Collected data were analyzed using SPSS statistical software and the Chi-square test to assess the relationships between categorical variables.

Results

Of 315 participants, 31.7% (n=100) of the respondents reported the use of non-prescription antibiotics within a three-month study period. Self-medication with antibiotics was significantly associated with ethnicity and employment. The participants reported their previous experience with the disease (69; 21.9%), as the main reason for self-medication with antibiotics. The primary sources of antibiotics were those purchased from community pharmacies (70; 22.2%) and household (21; 6.7%).

Conclusion

Our study showed a high prevalence of self-medication behaviour even with the enforcement of the new legislation regarding the prohibition of selling antibiotics without a prescription. Therefore, there is a need to raise public awareness towards the safe use of antibiotics in our community.

Keywords:

• antibiotics
• dispensing
• self-medication
• Arab
• prescription
• UAE

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the participants for their contribution to this study.

Ethics Statement

We obtained ethical approval (Reference Number: REC-18-03-12-01-S) to conduct the study from The Research and Ethics Committee of the Colleges of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sharjah, UAE.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.