Saqib Wajiha, Gazerani Parisa
Department of Life Sciences and Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, 0130 Oslo, Norway.
Department of Health Science and Technology, Faculty of Medicine, Aalborg University, 9260 Gistrup, Denmark.
Eur J Investig Health Psychol Educ. 2024 Aug 1;14(8):2205-2225. doi: 10.3390/ejihpe14080147.
A relationship has been recognized between social media use and health issues. However, no studies have explored the potential link between social media use and consumption of over-the-counter (OTC) medications. We examined social media use, self-reported anxiety, depression, sleep problems, pain, and OTC medications use among Norwegian university students. The goal was to gain insights that would guide preventive health strategies for this target group. A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted with an online questionnaire distributed to university student Facebook groups in Norway. A total of 132 completed surveys were analyzed. Among the respondents, 28% experienced anxiety, 35% depression, 64% sleep problems, 71% headaches, and 78% musculoskeletal pain. Moreover, 56% reported using OTC analgesics or sleep aids, mostly purchased from community pharmacies. No statistically significant correlation was found between social media use and headache, musculoskeletal pain, sleep disturbances, or consumption of OTC medications among university students in Norway. The findings, however, demonstrated a positive trend, highlighting the need for further research with larger, more diverse samples, and potentially employing a qualitative or longitudinal design. We propose increased awareness of the potential negative effects of social media among university students, the inclusion of social media and health topics in study curricula, and the more proactive engagement of community pharmacists with young clients concerning the consumption of OTC medications.
社交媒体使用与健康问题之间的关系已得到认可。然而，尚无研究探讨社交媒体使用与非处方药（OTC）消费之间的潜在联系。我们调查了挪威大学生的社交媒体使用情况、自我报告的焦虑、抑郁、睡眠问题、疼痛以及非处方药的使用情况。目的是获取能指导针对该目标群体的预防性健康策略的见解。我们通过向挪威大学生Facebook群组发放在线问卷进行了一项定量横断面研究。共分析了132份完整的调查问卷。在受访者中，28%经历过焦虑，35%有抑郁，64%有睡眠问题，71%有头痛，78%有肌肉骨骼疼痛。此外，56%的人报告使用非处方镇痛药或助眠药，大多是从社区药店购买的。在挪威大学生中，未发现社交媒体使用与头痛、肌肉骨骼疼痛、睡眠障碍或非处方药消费之间存在统计学上的显著相关性。然而，研究结果显示出一种积极趋势，突出表明需要用更大、更多样化的样本进行进一步研究，并可能采用定性或纵向设计。我们建议提高大学生对社交媒体潜在负面影响的认识，在研究课程中纳入社交媒体与健康主题，以及社区药剂师就非处方药消费问题更积极地与年轻客户互动。
