Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Alessa, Dalal Ibrahim
• AlHuthail, Reem Rashed
• Al Mahfud, Shahd Abdullah
• Alshngeetee, Ayshah Sayed
• Alruwaili, Shahad A
• Khalaf, Ahmad Mamoun
• Almutlq, Malak Mohammed

Titel

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices Toward Self-Medicating Eye Symptoms in Saudi Arabia

Ist Teil von

• Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.), 2022-01, Vol.16, p.723-731

Ort / Verlag

New Zealand: Dove Medical Press Limited

Erscheinungsjahr

2022

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Self-medication is the selection and use of drugs by individuals to treat self-diagnosed diseases or symptoms. While some patients regard self-medicating as harmless, it is far from being a safe practice. The aim of this study was to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward self-medicating eye symptoms in Saudi Arabia. A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online questionnaire on a study population that consisted of Saudi nationals aged 18 and older who were using or had previously used ophthalmic medications. Among the 524 responses obtained, 79.4% were female, and more than half were less than 40 years old. Participants admitting to practicing ophthalmic self-medication measured 62.4%. The most commonly self-prescribed ophthalmic medications were artificial tears (n=276), followed by antiallergic (n=57) and antibiotic medications (n=33). Many participants reported that the reason for self-treatment was for repeated and simple symptoms that did not require professional care. While approximately 51% showed high levels of knowledge about ophthalmic medications, no significant relationship was seen with their choice to self-medicate (P=0.153). Despite detecting a high level of knowledge and acceptable practices and attitudes among participants, a high incidence of self-medication was observed. This effect was mostly attributed to long hospital waiting times and patient self-diagnosis. Increasing the number of healthcare units and properly educating patients on ophthalmic medications may help decrease the incidence of self-medication.