Volume 26, Issue 127, September 2022

Measuring the extent of pain by using over-the-counter medications and its consequences towards pharmacy students: A cross-sectional survey

Atheer Alzahrani¹, Lamya Almatrafi¹, Refal Fagieha¹, Wejdan Alharbi¹, Deena M. Bukhary², Safaa Alsanosi³, Alaa Falemban^3,4, Yosra Al-Hindi^3♦

¹Pharm D candidate, Faculty of pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
²Department of Pharmaceutics, College of pharmacy Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
³Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
⁴Saudi Toxicology Society, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Medicine, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Pain management is important for many individuals who suffer from constant or periodic pain, especially for students. However, Self-medication and Over-the-counter medication due to its accessibility to most of the patients have become the first choice of many students around the world to manage their pain during their study period. However, lack of knowledge among the students may result in unpleasant consequences which may affect the student’s performance. Worldwide many investigations occurred to assess the students' approach to deal with the pain using several available strategies. This study research was done to examine the extent of pain by using over-the-counter medication (OTC) among College of Pharmacy students at Umm Al-Qura University. To investigate the student pain management strategies, a cross-sectional questionnaire has been constructed and distributed to students. The results showed 97% of female students tend to use OTC to deal with the pain. Among these students, 19% were suffering from chronic pain and they have been using NSAIDs and acetaminophen to control their pain. Furthermore, pain management is vital for the student to improve their performance and retain their education outcomes with the best results.

Keywords: Pain, Pain management, OTC medication, Over- the- Counter medicines, self-medication, Pharmacy students

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms364e2450

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i127/ms364e2450

Published: 11 September 2022