KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AND PRACTICE ON OVER-THE-COUNTER DRUG AMONG PHARMACY AND OTHER HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS; A FACILITY-BASED CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Globally, using over-the-counter (OTC) medication by self-medication is more common than administering prescribed drugs. OTC medication could resolve mild medical complications; however, it could result in significant problems in case of misused drugs and using medication in the wrong dose or duration. Health Care Providers (HCP) use such OTC drugs for many purposes, such as saving time. However, Pharmacy and medical HCPs are supposed to have information about OTC drugs and self-medication. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacy and medical HCP regarding OTC drugs.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional survey-based study that was conducted on HCP. The study used a self-administrated survey to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of HCPs regarding OTC drugs. In addition, the demographics, level of knowledge, level of attitude, and level of practice were investigated.

Results:

This study included 346 HCPs; most were males (70.8%). There was high knowledge among 32.4% of HCPs, and 35.8% had a positive attitude. The level of knowledge was significantly associated with gender (P=0.0001), age (P=0.0001), marital status (P=0.0001), and attitude (P=0.0001). Also, the level of attitude was significantly associated with gender (P=0.0001), age (P=0.0001), and marital status (P=0.0001).

Conclusion:

There was a low level of knowledge and low attitude towards OTC self-medication. Means to increase their knowledge should be considered as they would be responsible for medication prescription in the future.

Keywords: Attitude, Knowledge, OTC, HCPs