Evaluation of use of antibiotics without prescription among young adults in Albania case study: Tirana and Fier District (original) (raw)
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Evaluation of the use of antibiotics without prescription
Abstract Background: Self-medication is defined as the utilization of drugs to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, or the irregular or continuous use of a prescribed drug for chronic or repeated diseases or symptoms. The main problem with self-medication with antimicrobials is the emergence of pathogenic resistance. Antimicrobial resistance is an existing problem world-wide, mainly in developing countries. The aims and objectives of the study presented in this article are to evaluate the prevalence of purchase of antibiotics without prescription and appropriateness of use among adults and to determine the impact of the education level on the sensibility level over the use of antibiotics. Methods: This was a questionnaire based study of 3 month duration. The study includes data from 350 young adults (182 men/172 women, mean age ± SD: 34.72 ± 13.7 years), who visited ten different pharmacies located in the city of Tirana and the “Olympus” Private Medical Clinic in Fier between December 2012 and March 2013. Also a part of questionnaires was distributed by e-mail. Results: The results of this study showed that out of 350 young adults, 273 (78.14%) of them used antibiotics as self medication. The most common reasons for self administration of antibiotics were fever 171 (29.23%), sore throat 170 (29.06%) and cough 83 (14.19%). In this study we observed that the most common source of information regarding self-medication is the pharmacy (community pharmacists) 166 (36.40%) and most common antibiotic used as self-medication is amoxicillin 70 (19.39%). Authors also determined the impact of education level over the use of antibiotics. The results showed that adults with low and medium education level (7.986% and 43.056% respectively) were most likely to use antibiotics as self-medication. Conclusions: The findings from this study highlight the striking prevalence of self-medication among young adults in Albania and the lack of awareness about the risks associating their use. We recommend that a holistic approach must be taken to prevent this problem from escalating which would involve awareness and education regarding the implications of self medication, strategies to prevent the supply of medicines without prescription by pharmacies and strict rules regarding pharmaceutical advertising. Key words: Antibiotics, self medication, resistance, questionnaire study
Antibiotic Self-Medication Among Young Adults in Kosovo
2018
A survey was developed and distributed to adult pharmacy customers in Pristina, Kosovo to explore the extent and reasons for self-medication and knowledge regarding antibiotic use. The survey was distributed via-email to a convenience sample of pharmacy customers (n=693). Four hundred and nineteen (n=419, 63.2% response rate) completed surveys were returned. Most respondents (56%, n=235) were between 25-45 years old, almost 80% (79.62%, n=332) held a university degree, 59.43% were females, and 12.05% (n=50) were unemployed.  Sore throats (44.47%, n=185) were the most common reason for self-medicating with antibiotics followed by other – unspecified (28.61%, n=119), cough (7.21%, n=30) and pain (6.49%, n=27). Amoxicillin was the most frequently self-administered antibiotic (41.1%, n=175). It was concluded that self-medication with antibiotics in this sample is a problem and controlling antibiotic use is an important public health effort.
Self-Medication with Antibiotics in Lithuania
International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health, 2006
Objectives: Excessive and not always proper use of antibiotic give rise to numerous problems, of which antimicrobial resistance, currently cause for worldwide concern, is the major one. Few single studies of antibiotic use have been carried out in some countries. This study was performed to estimate the prevalence of antibiotic use in the general population of Lithuania with special interest in self-medication with antibiotics and sources of their acquisition. Materials and Methods: Structured questionnaires on antibiotic use during the last 12 months were mailed to randomly selected adults and 746 of them were finally analyzed. Results: It was found that 39.9% of respondents reported antibiotic use during the last 12 months preceding the study and 53.2% of those used them in self-medication. In general, 22.0% (95%CI: 19.1-25.1) of respondents used antibiotics without prescription, whereas 45.0% (95%CI: 41.3-48.7) of them used antibiotics for intended self-administration. Adjustment for all the factors revealed the impact of the occupation, place of residence and presence of chronic disease on self-medication with antibiotics. Representatives of managerial, executive and professional occupations used non-prescribed antibiotics 8.38 times more often (95% CI: 1.76-39.91, p = 0.01) than retired people. Healthy people showed the tendency to self-medication 2.04 times more frequently than those with chronic diseases (95%CI: 1.11-3.75, p = 0.02). Rural people used non-prescribed antibiotics 1.79 times more often than inhabitants of urban areas (95%CI: 1.00-3.18, p = 0.049). Community pharmacies proved to be the most frequent (86.0%) source of overthe-counter antibiotics. Tonsillitis, bronchitis, and upper respiratory infections were the major reasons for self-medication with antibiotics. Conclusions: The high prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics was found in Lithuania. The study indicated the need for more strict control of antibiotic sales and promotion of education of the correct use of antibiotic among Lithuanian people.
Antibiotics
There are growing concerns with rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR) across countries. These concerns are enhanced by the increasing and inappropriate utilization of ‘Watch’ antibiotics with their greater resistance potential, AMR is further exacerbated by the increasing use of antibiotics to treat patients with COVID-19 despite little evidence of bacterial infections. Currently, little is known about antibiotic utilization patterns in Albania in recent years, including the pandemic years, the influence of an ageing population, as well as increasing GDP and greater healthcare governance. Consequently, total utilization patterns in the country were tracked from 2011 to 2021 alongside key indicators. Key indicators included total utilization as well as changes in the use of ‘Watch’ antibiotics. Antibiotic consumption fell from 27.4 DIDs (defined daily doses per 1000 inhabitants per day) in 2011 to 18.8 DIDs in 2019, which was assisted by an ageing population and improved infrastructu...
PLOS ONE
Benefits of antibiotics are threatened by the self-medication, people's lack of knowledge and inappropriate use of antibiotics, especially in developing countries. This study was designed to determine knowledge; attitudes and practices toward antibiotics use in an urban community, and evaluate the factors that are associated with antibiotic use. Between January and March 2015, a cross sectional and prospective study was conducted in all pharmacies within the Douala IV health district, Cameroon. Anonymous interviews including both open and closed ended questions were conducted in participants selected by convenience sampling Descriptive and logistic regression analysis were performed using StataSE11 software (version 11 SE) and R software (version 3.1.1) in data analysis. Overall 402 (33.7%) of 1,192 customers purchased antibiotics and of these, 47% bought antibiotics without a prescription. 60.7% of purchased antibiotics was for adult 'patients and around 60% of parents carried out self-medication on their children. The vast majority reported that all microbes can be treated with antibiotics (88.3%). The belief that antibiotics are appropriate for bacterial infections was more common among those with a higher level education (OR = 4.03, 95% CI:1.89-8.57, p<0.0001) and among public/private servants (OR = 2.47, 95%CI:1.21-5.08, p = 0.013). Physicians provide less explanations about antibiotics are and their potential side effects than the pharmacy auxiliaries (OR = 0.205, 95%CI = 0.09-0.46, p<0.0001), but more than pharmacists (OR = 3.692, 95%CI:1.44-9.25, p = 0.005). Indications on antibiotics use were 7 times more given to customers with a prescription compared to those without a prescription (OR = 7.37, 95% CI = 2.13-25.43, p = 0.002). Adult male (OR = 2.32, 95% CI:1.24-4.34, p = 0.009) and higher education (OR = 2.05, 95%CI:1.08-3.89, p = 0.027) were significantly associated with self-medication. Misuse, little "practical knowledge" and high self-medication confirm the unsatisfactory prescription and dispensing practices of the antibiotics in our country. These results highlight the important of the development and
F 17 may 2019 idr 203364 self medication of antibiotics investigating practice among
Infection and Drug Resistence, 2019
Background: Self-medication of drugs to alleviate symptoms is a common global behavior, helping relieve burdens on health services, but many drugs eg, antibiotics are prescription-only. Self-medication of antibiotics (SMA) is an irrational use of drugs, contributing to microbial resistance increasing health care costs and higher mortality and morbidity. This study aimed to assess SMA among university students. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among medical and non-medical students of the National Defence University of Malaysia. A validated instrument was used to gather data. Ethics approval was obtained. Random and universal sampling was adopted, and SPSS 21 was used for data analysis. Results: A total of 649 students participated in the study: 48.5% male and 51.5% female, 39.3% reported self-medicating with antibiotics. Penicillin, doxycycline, clarithromycin were the antibiotics most used with the majority reporting no adverse drug reactions. Cost savings and convenience were the principal reasons for SMA which were mainly obtained from local retail pharmacies. Despite medical students (particularly the more senior) having better knowledge of antibiotic use than non-medical students, 89% of all research participants responded that practicing SMA was a good/acceptable practice. Conclusion: SMA is common amongst Malaysian students and, despite understanding why SMA is unwise, even medical students self-medicate.
Self-medication with antibiotics in rural population in Greece: a cross-sectional multicenter study
BMC Family Practice, 2010
Background: Self-medication is an important driver of antimicrobial overuse as well as a worldwide problem. The aim of the present study was to estimate the use of antibiotics, without medical prescription, in a sample of rural population presenting in primary care in southern Greece. Methods: The study included data from 1,139 randomly selected adults (545 men/594 women, mean age ± SD: 56.2 ± 19.8 years), who visited the 6 rural Health Centres of southern Greece, between November 2009 and January 2010. The eligible participants were sought out on a one-to-one basis and asked to answer an anonymous questionnaire. Results: Use of antibiotics within the past 12 months was reported by 888 participants (77.9%). 508 individuals (44.6%) reported that they had received antibiotics without medical prescription at least one time. The major source of self-medication was the pharmacy without prescription (76.2%). The antibiotics most frequently used for self-medication were amoxicillin (18.3%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (15.4%), cefaclor (9.7%), cefuroxim (7.9%), cefprozil (4.7%) and ciprofloxacin (2.3%). Fever (41.2%), common cold (32.0%) and sore throat (20.6%) were the most frequent indications for the use of self-medicated antibiotics. Conclusion: In Greece, despite the open and rapid access to primary care services, it appears that a high proportion of rural adult population use antibiotics without medical prescription preferably for fever and common cold.
Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Community, 2018
Previous research showed that self-medication practice with antibiotics is widespread in developing countries and tertiary students are among these consumers. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of the use of antibiotics without prescription among non-health science students in Jember and to identify the sources of non-prescription antibiotics. This cross-sectional survey was conducted between April and June 2016 in all non-health science faculties of Universitas Jember. A questionnaire containing four main short questions about antibiotics use and questions related to socio-demographic information was distributed to students who gave consent. A number of 130 (58.5%) respondents admitted to ever acquire antibiotics without the presence of a physician prescription. Self-medication with antibiotics tended to be done by students from rural areas (p=0.04) and without health insurance (p=0.04). The sources of nonprescription antibiotics vary, but pharmacy was the most frequently cited to be the source (n=82; 46.3%). This study showed that the use of antibiotics without prescription among non-health science students and the sale of antibiotics without prescription among pharmacies in Jember are prevalent. Real responses from the government, relevant health professional associations, and education institutions to intervene these problems are significantly needed.