The Effects of Trade Names on the Misuse of Some Over-The-Counter Drugs and Assessment of Community Knowledge and Attitudes in Alkarak, Jordan.

Abstract

Purpose: This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of the community toward the brand names of the most commonly used over-the-counter (OTC) analgesics in Alkarak, Jordan, as well as to assess community's self-medication behaviors that may lead to misuse of OTC drugs.

Patients and methods: This is a questionnaire-based cross-sectional study performed between 7 September and 1 October 2023. The total number of recruited participants was 730 adults from Alkarak, Jordan. One-way ANOVA was used to determine the statistical differences among the means of independent groups. The reliability of each question was evaluated using Cronbach's alpha. The Cronbach's alpha was within the accepted range for all questionnaire items (0.7-0.9).

Results: Most participants were male (60.3%), with an average age equal to 38 ± 11.06 years, having a bachelor's degree (61.0%) from humanity colleges (43.6%). The highest proportion of the participants were reported to be without chronic diseases and not under chronic medications (57.1%). This study revealed a low knowledge score regarding OTC drug brand names (2.86 ± 0.99 out of five) and unfavorable attitudes toward OTC medicines (2.68 ±1.04 out of five). However, the study finds a significant relationship between the level of education and knowledge and attitude toward OTC drug brand names (p-value < 0.001). Bachelor's holder participants had the lowest knowledge of OTC drug brand names, whereas the worst attitude was reported among below diploma participants. Many participants held misconceptions about OTC drug brand names that lead to consumption of the same drugs under different brand names at the same time; especially OTC analgesics.

Conclusion: Low levels of knowledge and unfavorable attitudes regarding OTC drug use from different brand names were reported. Increasing the awareness of the community and enhancing the role of physicians and pharmacists in OTC drug consumption may lead to decrease the misuse of these drugs.