title: Patterns and predictors of non-prescription medicine use among Malaysian pharmacy patrons: a national cross sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The study aims to evaluate the predictors of non-prescription medicine purchasing patterns among pharmacy patrons in Malaysia.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional nationwide study was undertaken in 2011 in sixty randomly selected community pharmacies across 14 Malaysian states. A pharmacy exit survey was conducted over a 6-month period across Malaysia. A one-stage random cluster sampling technique was employed as there was no national sampling framework available for conducting this survey. Face-to-face interviews using a validated and pre-tested questionnaire were conducted by trained data collectors. The non-prescription medicine purchasing pattern was explored and analysed descriptively. Chi-square/Fisher exact test was used to determine the association between study variables. Multinomial logistic regression analysis was used to determine the predictors of type of non-prescription medicine purchased.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 2729 pharmacy patrons agreed to participate in 60 selected pharmacy outlets. A total of 3462 non-prescription medicine were purchased during the study period with an average of 1.3 medicines per participant. Most of the non-prescription medicine purchased was meant for alimentary tract and metabolism (31.8%), followed by respiratory system (19.4%) and musculoskeletal system (15.8%) usage. Factors found to be associated with the choice of non-prescription medicine purchased were age group [χ2 = 170.75, (df = 57), p<0.01], locality [χ2 = 48.16, (df = 19), p<0.01], gender [χ2 = 32.93, (df = 13), p = 0.002], ethnic group [χ2 = 118.89, (df = 39), p<0.01] and type of occupation [χ2 = 222.434, (df = 117), p<0.01]. Non-prescription medicine purchased defined about 20% of the variance in the combination of predictors such as locality, gender, age, ethnicity, type of occupation and household income.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The predictors for selection of non-prescription medicine were locality (urban or rural), gender, age, ethnicity, type of occupation and household income per month. Future studies need to explore the safety and effectiveness of using these non-prescription medicines.
authors.affiliation: Discipline of Social and Administrative Pharmacy, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pinang, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mohamed Azmi
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Hassali
authors.forename: Abdul Haniff
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Mohamad Yahaya
authors.forename: Asrul Akmal
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Shafie
authors.forename: Fahad
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Saleem
authors.forename: Gin Nie
authors.initials: GN
authors.lastname: Chua
authors.forename: Hisham
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aljadhey
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D010594:Pharmacies / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004366:Nonprescription Drugs