Department of Pharmacy Administration and Clinical Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Xi'anJiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
Center for Drug Safety and Policy Research, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.
PLoS One. 2018 Mar 22;13(3):e0194240. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194240. eCollection 2018.
Access to medicines without prescription is a major contributing factor for self-medication practices. This study was designed to examine the ratio of non-prescribed medicines sales and self-medication practices in Punjab, Pakistan. This study also evaluates the reasons for self-medication within its communities.
An observational study was conducted in 272 systemically selected pharmacies to analyze medicines-related sales, with or without prescription. A cross-sectional survey was performed between June 2015 and November 2016. Consumers were interviewed about their self-medication practices.
Of the pharmacies surveyed, 65.3% participated in the study. A total of 4348 medicines were purchased for self-medication by 3037 consumers (15.2% of all study participants), of which 873 (28.7%) participated in an interview. Majority (81.2%) medicine purchaser, (90.9%) interview participants, and (59.4%) drug users were male. On average, each community pharmacy sold 7.9 medicines without prescription each day, to an average of 5.5 customers. Many participants (28.9%) had matriculation in their formal education. The medicines most often sold for self-medication were analgesics and antipyretics(39.4%). More than 25% of participants reported fever symptoms and 47.8% assumed their illness was too trivial to consult a doctor. Media advertisements were the most common source of information for participants (46.7%).
Many types of medicines were often sold without prescription from community pharmacies. Self-medication was common practice for a wide range of illnesses. Pakistan also needs effective implementation of policies to monitor medication sales. Public education about rational medication and limits to advertising medicine are very necessary.
无需处方即可获得药品是自我药疗行为的主要促成因素。本研究旨在检查巴基斯坦旁遮普邦未经处方销售药品和自我药疗的比例。本研究还评估了社区内自我药疗的原因。
在 272 家系统选择的药店中进行了一项观察性研究，以分析有或没有处方的药品相关销售。在 2015 年 6 月至 2016 年 11 月期间进行了横断面调查。对消费者进行了有关自我药疗实践的访谈。
在所调查的药店中，有 65.3%参与了研究。共有 3037 名消费者（占所有研究参与者的 15.2%）自行购买了 4348 种药品进行自我药疗，其中 873 人（28.7%）接受了采访。大多数（81.2%）购药者、（90.9%）访谈参与者和（59.4%）药物使用者为男性。平均而言，每家社区药店每天无处方销售 7.9 种药品，平均有 5.5 名顾客。许多参与者（28.9%）在正规教育中有高中文凭。最常用于自我药疗的药品是止痛药和退烧药（39.4%）。超过 25%的参与者报告有发热症状，47.8%的参与者认为自己的病太轻微，不需要看医生。媒体广告是参与者最常见的信息来源（46.7%）。
许多类型的药品经常未经社区药店处方出售。自我药疗是广泛疾病的常见做法。巴基斯坦还需要有效实施政策来监测药物销售。公众对合理用药和限制药物广告的教育非常必要。
