The prevalence of sleeping pills and factors associated with their use among primary care patients, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Aljohani, Eman; Aldughaither, Aida

doi:10.24911/ijmdc.51-1540241873

Cited by 3 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…This study revealed that the previous history of sleep aid medication use among the Saudi population was relatively high, at 87.2%, among which 31.2% reported current use. In a paper published by Aljohani et al, the use of sleeping pills without prescription was found to be low at 12.8% [ 5 ]. Another paper conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, indicated that medical students in King Saud University College of Medicine during the year 2011 had been reported to have been using sedative drugs since enrolment, with 17% of them expressing sedative drug use at some time since enrolment [ 7 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…That conclusion is not consistent with our reports, as the use of OTC sleep aid medication was more prevalent in women than in men. Some papers relate the excessive use of sleep medication with marital status [ 5 , 9 ]. Nevertheless, this is not true in our study, as we found no significant relationship between marital status and the previous use of sleep aid medication.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As more than half (52.1%) of the subjects expressed that the use of OTC sleep aid medication was due to insomnia and nighttime pain (36%). Consistently, Aljohani et al documented that primary care patients used sleeping pills primarily due to sleeping difficulties and frequent awakenings, while in a paper by Al-Naggar et al, headache (79.5%) and anxiety were the primary and secondary reasons for using sleeping pills, respectively [ 5 , 8 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…An online self-administered questionnaire was uploaded to Google Forms and then distributed among the Saudi population using social media platforms including WhatsApp, Twitter, and Telegram. A pre-validated self-administered questionnaire that was used in a previous study (Aljohani et al, 2019) was utilized for data collection with permission from the first author [ 5 ]. Minor modifications were done to the questionnaire to fit our study goal, including changing the questions from sleep medications in general to only the ones containing diphenhydramine hydrochloride.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Furthermore, during our literature review, we found only one study conducted in Saudi Arabia, targeting primary healthcare patients only. This study was done on 320 participants and reported that 12.81% of the participants used sleeping pills, reaching the conclusion that the usage of sleeping pills among Saudi adults who visit primary care is not common, and further studies with a larger sample are required [ 5 ]. Therefore, we decided to conduct a study to assess the prevalence of usage, frequency, and dosage reported by the users.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Use of Over-the-Counter Sleep Aid Containing Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride Among Saudis

Alhwimani¹,

Aljohani²,

Altulaihi³

2021

Cureus

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Background Diphenhydramine is a first-generation H1 receptor antihistamine that is usually used for the treatment of allergy, insect bites such as mosquitos, bee stings, and some types of skin rashes. However, it possesses antiparkinsonian, antitussive, antiemetic, and most importantly hypnotic properties. This study aimed to assess the prevalence, frequency of use, and dosage of over-the-counter (OTC) sleep aid containing diphenhydramine hydrochloride used among Saudis. Material and Methods The study used a descriptive cross-sectional design conducted among the Saudi population. An online self-administered questionnaire was distributed among the selected Saudi nationality using social media platforms. The subjects included were Saudis aged 15 years or older, literate in using social media. The questionnaire included basic demographic characteristics, previous and current history of medication use that contains diphenhydramine hydrochloride, its side effects, and other related behavior of using, such as frequency of use and dosage. Results A total of 414 respondents were recruited (51% males and 49% females). Previous and current use of medications that contain diphenhydramine hydrochloride constituted 87.2% and 31.9%, respectively. The most common reason for using sleep aid was insomnia (52.1%). Dizziness or imbalance was the most commonly reported side effect. The Chi-square test revealed that the age group of ≤25 years (p = 0.044), female gender (p = 0.040), being a student (p = 0.015), current use of sleeping aid medications (p < 0.001), and the use of other medications (p < 0.001) were significantly associated with increased use of sleep aid medications. Conclusion The excessive use of over-the-counter (OTC) sleep aid medications containing diphenhydramine hydrochloride was widely prevalent among the Saudi population. Younger female students constitute the majority of OTC sleep aid medication users.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The Use of Over-the-Counter Sleep Aid Containing Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride Among Saudis

Alhwimani¹,

Aljohani²,

Altulaihi³

2021

Cureus

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Factors associated with the use of over-the-counter sleep aids containing diphenhydramine: A cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia

Alhussain,

Almuayli,

Aldaej

2023

Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal

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Assessment of Sleeping Disorders, Characteristics, and Sleeping Medication Use Among Pharmacy Students in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Quantitative Study

Syed,

Al-Rawi

2023

Med Sci Monit

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Background Insomnia is a growing problem, especially among university students, and is associated with sleep disorders, poor academic performance, and quality of sleep. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of insomnia sleeping characteristics, managing techniques, and attitudes toward sleeping pill usage among pharmacy students. Material/Methods A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted among pharmacy students of King Saud University, College of Pharmacy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between February and March 2023. SPSS version 26 was used for data analysis. A P value of <0.05 and was considered statistically significant. Results In this study, 61.7% (n=108) of the students’ slept an average of 6–10 h and 35.4% (n=62) slept an average of 6 h. Regarding sleeping patterns, nearly two-thirds (n=112, 64%) of the students had day and night sleeping patterns while more than one-third (n=63, 36%) had only night sleeping patterns. In this study, 2.9% (n=5) of the students had severe clinical insomnia, while 21.7% (n=38) reported moderately severe clinical insomnia, 44% (n=77) of them had subthreshold insomnia, and 31.4% (n= 55) had no clinically significant insomnia. The mean scores of the insomnia severity index were significantly related to the usage of stimulants ( P =0.048), average hours of sleep ( P =0.0001), and average minutes needed to fall asleep ( P =0.0001). Conclusions The current findings demonstrated varying levels of insomnia among students, yet few students used sleeping pills.

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The prevalence of sleeping pills and factors associated with their use among primary care patients, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Cited by 3 publications

References 0 publications

The Use of Over-the-Counter Sleep Aid Containing Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride Among Saudis

The Use of Over-the-Counter Sleep Aid Containing Diphenhydramine Hydrochloride Among Saudis

Factors associated with the use of over-the-counter sleep aids containing diphenhydramine: A cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia

Assessment of Sleeping Disorders, Characteristics, and Sleeping Medication Use Among Pharmacy Students in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Quantitative Study

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