Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Inappropriateness of medication use and associated health risks: A cross-sectional study from Pakistan

Syed Zia Husnain¹ , Nadeem Irfan Bukhari¹, Khalid Hussain¹, Zaheer-ud-Din Baber^2,3, Zikria Saleem^1,4

¹University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, Allama Iqbal Campus, Lahore 54000, Pakistan; ²Department of Pharmacy, University of Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, Huddersfield, United Kingdom; ³School of Pharmacy, University of Auckland, Private Mail Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand; ⁴School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia.

For correspondence:- Syed Husnain Email: ziafid43@hotmail.com

Accepted: 25 March 2018 Published: 30 April 2018

Citation: Husnain SZ, Bukhari NI, Hussain K, Baber Z, Saleem Z. Inappropriateness of medication use and associated health risks: A cross-sectional study from Pakistan. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(4):715-721 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i4.22

© 2018 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the patterns of medication use and medication appropriateness among people in different regions of Pakistan.

Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 410 individuals in four provinces of Pakistan (Punjab, Sindh, Baluchistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) as well as the capital city, Islamabad, via a convenient sampling method. The questionnaire used comprised three major sections: (a) medication use patterns of the population, (b) medication storage and wastage practices, and (c) development of secondary disease after medication use. The questionnaires were completed under the supervision of pharmacists trained for the purpose.

Results: The majority of the study population preferred bottle caps for taking oral liquid medicines (83.9 %), and the proportion using bottle caps was highest in Punjab (55.2 %) followed by Sindh (21.8 %). A significant proportion of the population consider the use of very hot water as a reconstitution medium for suspensions (36.3 %). In many cases, suspensions were constituted by mere estimation of the vehicle used (56.1 % from Punjab, 18.9 % from Sindh, 16.1 % from KPK, 7.7 % from Baluchistan, and 1.1 % from Islamabad). Significant differences were observed in the handling of leftover drugs among respondent populations, as well as the overall diverse modes of disposal recorded (43.9 %). Doctors (46.6 %) and relatives were the main sources of instructions on medicine usage (37.6 %). A disinclination to purchase a full course of medicine was observed. Knowledge of medicine storage and measuring tools for oral liquids showed striking peculiarities among the various study populations.

Conclusion: Inappropriate medication use among the general population of Pakistan requires educational interventions and awareness programs to promote rational drug use in the society.

Keywords: Inappropriate, medication, population, healthcare, use