The DREEM provides useful diagnostic information about medical schools, whether it is in developing or western developed countries.

Background Antibiotic resistance became a marker of irrational and overuse of these medicines in many countries. This study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of medical students (MS) and non-medical students (NS) towards antibiotic use in the United Arabs Emirates (UAE). Method A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted amongst 1200 MS and NS from Ajman University in UAE. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotic use. The later was composed into knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotic use. Descriptive analysis was used to analyse the qualitative variables while quantitative variables were summarised using mean ± Standard Deviation (±SD). A Chi-square test was used to compare differences in the proportions of qualitative variables. Unpaired student’s t-test was used to test the average differences in quantitative variables across medical and non-medical students. A p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results One thousand two hundred students (MS: 600 and NS: 600) were considered valid for analysis. On average, participants scored higher in attitude score followed by knowledge and practice scores. The average attitude score was 76% (95% CI: [75, 78%]) compared to 59% for knowledge (95% CI: [58, 60%]) and 45% (95% CI: [44, 47%]) for practice. The results suggest that overall, medical students scored remarkably better than non-medical students on KAP of antibiotic use, respectively ( p = 0.0001), (p = 0.000) and ( p = 0.002). Conclusion The students’ knowledge, attitude and practice regarding antibiotic use, which drive the practice of self-medication, reflect a gap in medical curricula in UAE institutes and medical colleges.

This study confirms that Qat chewing induces anorexia, weak stream of micturition, post-chewing urethral discharge and insomnia (delayed bedtime), which result in late wake-up next morning and low work performance the next day. These effects are believed to be caused by the central and peripheral actions of cathinone and cathine in the Qat leaves.

The leaves of the Qat plant (Catha edulis Forsk., Celastraceae) which contain amphetamine like compounds are widely chewed in Yemen and East Africa for their pleasurable stimulant properties. There are also a number of unwanted side-effects and this paper studies the effect on heart rate and blood pressure in 80 healthy volunteers. During a 3-h period of chewing fresh Qat leaves there was a significant and progressive rise in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and heart rate, and levels had not returned to baseline 1 h after chewing had ceased. Further studies are needed on possible cardiovascular morbidity associated with regular Qat chewing.

Strategies and interventions are desirable to promote RUM and minimize the consequences of poly-pharmacy.