Attitudes Toward and Use of Over-The-Counter Medications among Teenagers: Evidence from an Italian Study

Abstract

In recent years, the consumption of Over-The-Counter (OTC) drugs has increased. Previous studies have pointed out that the OTC medications are misused and abused by teenagers, who often show poor knowledge of the toxicity of these drugs.The paper aims to analyze the use of OTCs by teenagers and the factors that influence their consumption. This paper is based on quantitative data. A web-based survey was administered to the students of an Italian high school. The questionnaire included queries on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the students with regard to OTCs. Since teenagers are influenced by their families, their approach to healthcare was also investigated.An exploratory factor analysis was conducted in order to determine the key factors influencing their attitudes toward the use of medications. Finally, a cluster analysis was run in order to identify different behavioral segments.Results show that four factors (tradition, social communication, self-management, and caution) influence the attitudes and behaviors of teenagers toward OTC medicines. The research also highlighted that attitudes toward the use of OTC medicines varied among the respondents, who were grouped into three different clusters: their presence implies the need for targeted educational programs, involving teenagers and their families.

Self-medication with over the counter drugs, prevalence of risky practice and its associated factors in pharmacy outlets of Asmara, Eritrea

“…Observed poor communication bridge between customers and pharmacists could contribute in producing such a controversial result. Comparatively, a higher percentage of pharmacists’ involvement in self-medication was observed in studies done in Italy [20], Nepal [21], Ethiopia [13], and Sri Lanka [22]. Easy accessibility of OTC drugs was reported as the main reason that encouraged the respondents to self-medicate.…”

“…In addition to the individuals’ behavior, the above result might be lowered by the unavailability of package inserts. Other studies showed that in Italy, but conducted among teenagers, 40% did not read the patient information leaflet last time they took OTC drugs [20]. In descending order, in Nepal 48.2% [8], Ethiopia 45.5% [13], India 25% [11] read leaflets carefully.…”

Risk Perception of Paracetamol Use among Undergraduate Students of University of Jos

“…This finding corroborates the finding by [7] in which participants aged 18 -25 years were reported to express careless attitude toward paracetamol use. [8], stated that people are of the opinion that only harmless medicines are legitimate to be sold without prescription and that over-the-counter medicines usually do not have dangerous side effects; this line of thinking could be responsible for the inconsistency on the parts of the participants with regards to reading patients' information drug leaflets.…”

“…[6], reported low risk perception and significant prevalence of self-medication among the participants; [7] also reported that, despite the fact that the study population purchase paracetamol mainly over-the-counter, they showed basic awareness of paracetamol use including the potential consequences of overdosing; young adults (18 -25 years), who use over-the-counter paracetamol frequently perceived less risk associated with use compared with older participants. People think that only safe medicines are legal to be sold without prescription and over-the-counter medicines usually do not have detrimental effects [8]. Virtually all users are not aware of the harmful effects of paracetamol abuse [9].…”

Elsayed A Usage and Knowledge of the Over- the- Counter Medicines Among Patient Visiting Ophthalmic Hospital in Wad Medani, Sudan

“…The average overall knowledge score of adolescence residing in New York (USA) was 44% [15]. In Italy, 80% of teenagers had an adequate information about OTC medicines [16]. Poor knowledge also makes people spend money on unnecessary medicines.…”