Community Pharmacists’ Views of the Enforced Antibiotics Dispensing Law and Its Impact on Oral Antibiotics Sales in Saudi Arabia

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of the Participants (N=286)

Characteristics	N (%)
Age in years (yrs)
<30 yrs	100 (34.97)
30–40 yrs	164 (57.34)
>40 yrs	22 (7.69)
Gender
Male	280 (97.90)
Female	6 (2.10)
Years of experience in community pharmacy settings in Saudi Arabia
1–5 yrs	154 (53.85)
5–10 yrs	91 (31.82)
>10 yrs	41 (14.34)
Type of pharmacy
Independent	24 (8.39)
Small-chain	47 (16.43)
Large-chain	215 (75.17)
Education
Bachelor of Pharmacy	278 (97.20)
Post-graduate degree (eg, Master of Science)	8 (2.80)
Nationality
Saudi	14 (4.90)
Non-Saudi	272 (95.10)

Table 2 Community Pharmacists’ Agreement with Different Statements Regarding the New Antibiotics Dispensing Law and Dispensing Antibiotics without Prescription

Views of the Enforced Dispensing Law of Antibiotics in Saudi Arabia	N (%)
1. After the enforcement of the law, the percentage of patients who ask for antibiotics without a prescription in comparison to those who bring a prescription with them is:
<25%	147 (51.40)
25%-50%	99 (34.62)
50%-75%	27 (9.44)
>75%	13 (4.55)
2. The sales of antibiotics after the enforcement of the law has__________:
Increased	9 (3.15)
Decreased	250 (87.41)
Not changed	27 (9.44)
3. Pharmacists must ask patients to consult their physicians to check if they need antibiotics.
Agree	280 (97.90)
Disagree	4 (1.40)
Neutral	2 (0.70)
4. The enforced antibiotics dispensing law will reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics.
Agree	256 (89.51)
Disagree	30 (10.49)
Not sure	0 (0.00)
5. The enforced antibiotics dispensing law will reduce the rate of antibiotic resistance.
Agree	259 (90.56)
Disagree	27 (9.44)
Not sure	0 (0.00)
6. Antibiotics dispensing without a prescription is common even after the enforcement of the law.
Agree	71 (24.83)
Disagree	185 (64.69)
Not sure	30 (10.49)
7. The law enforcement negatively impacted the pharmacy profits.
Agree	118 (41.26)
Disagree	151 (52.80)
Not sure	17 (5.94)

Figure 1 The most commonly dispensed oral antibiotics in community pharmacy settings based on the participants’ responses.

Figure 2 The sales of oral antibiotics in Saudi Arabia between 2017 and 2019 based on the SFDA database.