HEALTH PROBLEMS AND MEDICATION SELF- MANAGEMENT AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN THE UAE
Journal Title: European Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research - Year 2017, Vol 4, Issue 2
Abstract
Aim: This study aims to look at the most common health problems existing among students & what could contribute to worsen their health status. Then, to investigate the prevalence of self-medication, its risk factors & to give some recommendations to avoid its spread. Also, to illustrate the role of the pharmacist as a drug expert & to evaluate its effectiveness. Then to compare our results with other studies in different countries. Materials and Methods: This is the first study looking at health-related problems and self-medication in UAE students. We are investigating health problems and self-medication among 1040 male and female university students in the UAE. The study is divided into 3 parts. We have designed and validated a paper based questionnaire which has been distributed to various universities in the UAE. In addition, we built a freely accessed, self administered web based questionnaire using (google forms) to help us get access into more universities in the UAE. Questions were related to existing health problems, self-medications, stress and lifestyle. We used SPSS (version20) for data analysis Results: Mean (S.D) age and BMI of male and female students were 20.9 (±4.7) years, 20.6 (±2.9) years, 25.7 (±4.0) and 23.3 (±4.2), respectively. Approximately 25% of the students preferred self-medication than going to a doctor, for different reasons such as inability to afford physician fees, lack of time & trusting their own knowledge. The most common health problems were cold or flu (34.6%), acne (11.95%), un-tolerated menstruation pain (7.55%), migraine (6.3%), asthma (6.1%), IBS (5.3%), eczema (5.01%), hair health (4.9%), constipation (4.01%) and others (10.8%). Students preferred to use analgesics (64.4%), antibiotics (6.35%), Antihistamine (5.93%), Decongestants (3.75%) and Acne drugs (2.2%) as a choice to treat their ailments. The gender & specialty affected the desire of students towards self-treatment. Life style mainly diet & stress had a strong impact on general health as well. Comparison between students in UAE & other students abroad revealed that UAE has the least percent of self-treatment which might reflect the awareness of our students about the risks of self-treatment. Conclusion: Self- treatment is not wide spread yet in the UAE and is still a risk & causes many problems especially among the elderly & non-educated people. Thus, there is a need to hold awareness sessions & campaigns to improve the students‟ knowledge about self-treatment and their medicine & aid them to the safest & most proper medicine selection and use. Gender and specialty have shown certain impacts on the decision of self-treatment. The role of the pharmacist as a drug consultant was more noticeable after obtaining the drug, not before. Students who are using internet as a source of their medicine are at higher risk of having side effects because they are using untrusted websites. Unhealthy diet & stress increase the risk of having disease, therefore, it is very important to initiate health-related interventions programs aiming to improve the health of these students.
Authors and Affiliations
Dr. Mohammed Shamssain
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP628636
- DOI -
- Views 204
- Downloads 0
ENDOCAN: A RELIABLE BIOMARKER FOR RENAL IMPAIRMENT IN PSORIASIS VULGARIS PATIENTS
Background: Endocan may play a possible indicator for vascular endothelial related pathologies. Severe psoriasis is a risk factor for chronic kidney disease. Endocan may predict renal impairment in psoriatic patients. Ai...
INTRANASAL MIDAZOLAM, FENTANYL AND DEXMEDITOMITIDINE AS A PREMEDICATION IN PEDIATRIC SURGICAL PATIENTS
Background: For providing premedication to pediatric surgical patients, various drugs and many routes have been studied. Intranasal route is one of them. It’s one of the preferred routes because of the ease of administra...
EFFECT OF ALCOHOL ON URIC ACID LEVELS AMONG SUDANESE PEOPLE
Background: Several metabolic changes occurs in human's body due to alcoholic consumption which may lead to changes in biochemical substance such as uric acid. Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate serum uric a...
COMMON HEALTH COMPLAINT REPORTED BY STUDENTS ACCORDING TO SPECIALIZATION AND GENDER REGARDING SELF-MEDICATION AT AJMAN UNIVERSITY
Background: Self-medication is the selection and use of non-prescription medicines by individuals’ own initiatives to treat self-recognized illnesses or symptoms. It is practiced Significantly worldwide even though its t...
THE AMELIORATIVE EFFECTS OF THE AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF ROSEMARY AGAINST MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE NEUROTOXICITY IN ADULT MALE ALBINO RATS: HISTOLOGICAL, ULTRASTRUCTURAL AND BIOCHEMICAL STUDIES
Background: monosodium glutamate (MSG) is a major flavor enhancer is still being used as food additive. Despite its taste stimulation and improved appetite enhancement, many reports indicated that MSG is toxic to human a...