Prevalence of Self-Medication in Dental Patients: A Case Study of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The present study focuses on the prevalence of self-medication in dental patients’ pre-post dental consultation- a case study of Saudi Arabia. It was a descriptive study based on a structured close-ended interviewer-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of socio-demographic characteristics and also encompassed reasons, sources, duration, types of medicines used for self-medication, and reasons for hesitancy towards dental consultation. Respondents were selected using a non-probability convenience sampling technique, the data were analyzed using SPSS ver 22. Outcomes of the present study envisage that self-medication is quite prevalent among dental patients using both orthodox and traditional drugs. Results of Bivariate analysis revealed that the majority of patients were not cognizant of the specific dental ailments as revealed in pre-post diagnosis. The multivariate technique of decision trees exhibited that two groups of patients need to be focused on regarding self-medication – those who are less than 20 years of age and Non-Saudi Arabic speakers who are more than 20 years of age. The results of the present study can form the basis for framing future policies for easy accessibility of dental consultation to the populace which may result in containment of self-medication within the Saudian context.