Knowledge and Attitude of self-medication with leftover antibiotics in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations, 1 not approved]
Background Antimicrobial resistance is increasing at an alarming rate. The use of antibiotics without a prescription by a patient or other family members and their inappropriate storage have caused serious health issues as it would lead to antibiotic resistance and exposure to the risk of harmful ad...
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F1000 Research Ltd
2024-10-01
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| author | Saad Alsubaie Omar Al-Morikhi Bader Al-Mehmadi Saud Alenazi Khalid Alanazi Maryam Al-Mutairi Mohammed Alotaibi Fawaz Alqahtani Waad Almutairi |
| author_facet | Saad Alsubaie Omar Al-Morikhi Bader Al-Mehmadi Saud Alenazi Khalid Alanazi Maryam Al-Mutairi Mohammed Alotaibi Fawaz Alqahtani Waad Almutairi |
| author_sort | Saad Alsubaie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background Antimicrobial resistance is increasing at an alarming rate. The use of antibiotics without a prescription by a patient or other family members and their inappropriate storage have caused serious health issues as it would lead to antibiotic resistance and exposure to the risk of harmful adverse effects unnecessarily. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the current behaviour of antibiotic usage, storage, re-usage and misuse among the residents of Saudi Arabia. Methods This is a cross-sectional study. Our target study population was the residents of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected by an online questionnaire and analysed by SPSS. Results A total of 738 participants answered the online questionnaire from all ages, genders, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds residing in different regions across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 76.42% knew that an antibiotic is a chemical substance used to treat infections. The participants were questioned about when they started using antibiotics, to which 95.66% (n=706) responded after consulting a physician, 3.25% (n=24) said when they felt ill for any reason, and 1.08% (n=8) replied after first attempting herbal medicine. A total of 147 participants admitted that they store excess pills of antibiotics after being prescribed for an infection and reuse them later on for symptoms like sore throat and fever. Conclusions The results indicated that nearly half of the participants used leftover antibiotics. Participants having children in their homes significantly reuse antibiotics. However, one-third of the participants didn’t complete the antibiotics course. A large portion of the population, regardless of age, level of education, or professional background, have continued to store leftover antibiotics after an infection treatment and reuse them once they think they need them for new symptoms. This advice further revises the current measures to fill those gaps and reduce this habit. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5ab9a9e5859d4af89b12c1f8f4e4b766 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2046-1402 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-10-01 |
| publisher | F1000 Research Ltd |
| record_format | Article |
| series | F1000Research |
| spelling | doaj-art-5ab9a9e5859d4af89b12c1f8f4e4b7662024-11-30T01:00:00ZengF1000 Research LtdF1000Research2046-14022024-10-0112173086Knowledge and Attitude of self-medication with leftover antibiotics in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations, 1 not approved]Saad Alsubaie0Omar Al-Morikhi1Bader Al-Mehmadi2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5609-9914Saud Alenazi3Khalid Alanazi4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2706-1172Maryam Al-Mutairi5Mohammed Alotaibi6Fawaz Alqahtani7https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5688-0076Waad Almutairi8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7507-3795College of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Majmaah, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Majmaah, Saudi ArabiaAssistant Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology Consultant, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, 11952, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Majmaah, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Majmaah, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Majmaah, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Majmaah, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Majmaah, Saudi ArabiaCollege of Medicine, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia, Al-Majmaah, Saudi ArabiaBackground Antimicrobial resistance is increasing at an alarming rate. The use of antibiotics without a prescription by a patient or other family members and their inappropriate storage have caused serious health issues as it would lead to antibiotic resistance and exposure to the risk of harmful adverse effects unnecessarily. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate the current behaviour of antibiotic usage, storage, re-usage and misuse among the residents of Saudi Arabia. Methods This is a cross-sectional study. Our target study population was the residents of Saudi Arabia. Data were collected by an online questionnaire and analysed by SPSS. Results A total of 738 participants answered the online questionnaire from all ages, genders, nationalities, and socioeconomic backgrounds residing in different regions across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 76.42% knew that an antibiotic is a chemical substance used to treat infections. The participants were questioned about when they started using antibiotics, to which 95.66% (n=706) responded after consulting a physician, 3.25% (n=24) said when they felt ill for any reason, and 1.08% (n=8) replied after first attempting herbal medicine. A total of 147 participants admitted that they store excess pills of antibiotics after being prescribed for an infection and reuse them later on for symptoms like sore throat and fever. Conclusions The results indicated that nearly half of the participants used leftover antibiotics. Participants having children in their homes significantly reuse antibiotics. However, one-third of the participants didn’t complete the antibiotics course. A large portion of the population, regardless of age, level of education, or professional background, have continued to store leftover antibiotics after an infection treatment and reuse them once they think they need them for new symptoms. This advice further revises the current measures to fill those gaps and reduce this habit.https://f1000research.com/articles/12-304/v2Leftover antibiotics self-medication antimicrobial resistanceeng |
| spellingShingle | Saad Alsubaie Omar Al-Morikhi Bader Al-Mehmadi Saud Alenazi Khalid Alanazi Maryam Al-Mutairi Mohammed Alotaibi Fawaz Alqahtani Waad Almutairi Knowledge and Attitude of self-medication with leftover antibiotics in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] F1000Research Leftover antibiotics self-medication antimicrobial resistance eng |
| title | Knowledge and Attitude of self-medication with leftover antibiotics in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_full | Knowledge and Attitude of self-medication with leftover antibiotics in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_fullStr | Knowledge and Attitude of self-medication with leftover antibiotics in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_full_unstemmed | Knowledge and Attitude of self-medication with leftover antibiotics in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_short | Knowledge and Attitude of self-medication with leftover antibiotics in Saudi Arabia: A cross-sectional study [version 2; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations, 1 not approved] |
| title_sort | knowledge and attitude of self medication with leftover antibiotics in saudi arabia a cross sectional study version 2 peer review 1 approved 2 approved with reservations 1 not approved |
| topic | Leftover antibiotics self-medication antimicrobial resistance eng |
| url | https://f1000research.com/articles/12-304/v2 |
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