title: Antibiotic Self-Prescribing Trends, Experiences and Attitudes in Upper Respiratory Tract Infection among Pharmacy and Non-Pharmacy Students: A Study from Lahore.
abstract: Pharmacists are the custodians of drugs; hence their education, training, behaviors and experiences would affect the future use of drugs at community and hospital pharmacies. Therefore, we aimed at evaluating the self-prescribing antibiotic trends, knowledge and attitudes among pharmacy and non-pharmacy students. We found that pharmacy students had higher risks of experiencing URIs related symptoms such as cough (RR; 1.7, p = 0.002), allergy (RR; 2.07, p = 0.03) and running nose (RR; 3.17, p<0.005), compared to non-pharmacy students -resulting in higher probabilities of selecting cough syrups (OR; 2.3, p<0.005), anti-histamines (OR; 1.8, p = 0.036) and anti-inflammatory/anti-pyretic (OR; 2.4, p<0.005) drugs. Likewise, bachelor's degree pupils (OR; 2, p = 0.045), urban area residents (OR; 2.44; p = 0.002) and pharmacy students (OR; 2.9, p<0.005) exhibited higher propensities of antibiotic self-use-notable classes include, b-lactams (45.9%) followed by macrolides (26.5%) and augmentin (28.94%), respectively. Surprisingly, pharmacy and non-pharmacy students had higher odds of using antibiotics in common cold (OR; 3.2, p<0.005) and pain (OR; 2.37, p = 0.015), respectively. Unlike non-pharmacy students, pharmacy students were likely to select alternative therapy, such as Joshanda (OR; 2.22, p = 0.011) and were well acquainted with antibiotic hazards, with 77% reduction in risk of antibiotics re-use. In conclusion, university students exhibited antibiotic self-prescribing trends in conditions that does not warrant their use, thus are irrational users. The pharmacy education confers very little benefit to rational self-prescribing practices among students, while non-pharmacy students are more vulnerable to repeated antibiotic usage. Thus, the educational and training modules should be designed for university students to disseminate targeted information regarding the potential hazards of antibiotic self-use and importance of consultation with qualified and registered medical doctor/pharmacist before starting with antibiotics.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy Section, University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, AllamaIqbal Campus, 54000, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Zikria
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Saleem
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy Section, University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, AllamaIqbal Campus, 54000, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saeed
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy Section, University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, AllamaIqbal Campus, 54000, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mobasher
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ahmad
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy Section, University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, AllamaIqbal Campus, 54000, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Mahrukh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yousaf
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy Section, University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, AllamaIqbal Campus, 54000, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Hafsa Binte
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Hassan
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy Section, University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, AllamaIqbal Campus, 54000, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Ayesha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Javed
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy Section, University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, AllamaIqbal Campus, 54000, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Nida
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Anees
authors.affiliation: Clinical Pharmacy Section, University College of Pharmacy, University of the Punjab, AllamaIqbal Campus, 54000, Lahore, Pakistan.
authors.forename: Sonu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Maharjan
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D011307:Drug Prescriptions; D004512:Education, Pharmacy; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013339:Students, Pharmacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents