School of Pharmacy, University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Faculty of Pharmacy, Philadelphia University, Amman, Jordan.
PLoS One. 2023 Sep 20;18(9):e0291807. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291807. eCollection 2023.
Needle phobia remains a major drawback of conventional injectable medications, leading to avoidance and low adherence among a reasonable portion of patients. Despite this, there is a limited number of studies investigating needle phobia prevalence and symptoms. In this survey, we studied the knowledge and prevalence of needle phobia and its manifestations among 1182 adult Jordanians. Moreover, we assessed the feasibility of microneedles delivery systems as an alternative approach to conventional injectable methods. The results revealed that 28.5% of the participants identified themselves with needle phobia, with a notably higher prevalence among females compared to males (p-value < 0.001). The overall prevalence of needle phobia based on its measured manifestations was found to be 27.4%. The survey also found that 68% of the population were unfamiliar with the concept of microneedles despite the reasonable proportion of the population who were aware of the disadvantages of conventional injectable medications. Furthermore, the survey identified four significant predictors of needle phobia through hierarchical linear regression analysis. Gender, occupation, and negative past experiences with needle injections accounted for 3%, 1%, and 1% of the variance in needle phobia, respectively. In addition, the participants' preference for microneedles over conventional injectables medications appeared as another significant predictor, contributing 5% of the variance. Overall, the model explained 10% of the variance in needle phobia. Collectively, this study provides an insight into needle phobia prevalence and manifestations in Jordan, while also exploring microneedles as an alternative drug delivery system for patients with needle phobia.
恐针症仍然是传统注射药物的主要缺点，导致相当一部分患者回避和不遵医嘱。尽管如此，研究恐针症患病率和症状的研究数量有限。在这项调查中，我们研究了 1182 名成年约旦人的恐针症知识和患病率及其表现。此外，我们评估了微针给药系统作为传统注射方法替代方法的可行性。结果表明，28.5%的参与者认为自己有恐针症，女性的患病率明显高于男性（p 值<0.001）。根据其表现测量的恐针症总体患病率为 27.4%。调查还发现，尽管相当一部分人了解传统注射药物的缺点，但 68%的人不了解微针的概念。此外，通过分层线性回归分析，调查确定了恐针症的四个显著预测因素。性别、职业和对针注射的负面既往经历分别占恐针症变异的 3%、1%和 1%。此外，参与者对微针相对于传统注射药物的偏好似乎是另一个重要的预测因素，占变异的 5%。总体而言，该模型解释了恐针症变异的 10%。总的来说，这项研究提供了对约旦恐针症患病率和表现的深入了解，同时还探索了微针作为恐针症患者的替代药物递送系统。
