Volume 24, Issue 105, September - October, 2020

Prevalence and pattern of analgesic misuse among patients attending primary health care centre in Makkah

Abrar Alharbi^1♦, Fahad Saqib Lodhi^2,3, Adeel Ahmed Khan²

¹Family Medicine Resident PGY3, Joint program of Family medicine in Makkah, Saudi Arabia
²Trainer, Saudi Board program of Preventive Medicine, Ministry of Health, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
³Department of Community Medicine, Women Medical and Dental College Abbottabad, Pakistan

^♦Corresponding author
Family Medicine Resident PGY3, Joint program of Family medicine in Makkah, Saudi Arabia; Email: abrar_alharbi1992@hotmail.com

ABSTRACT

Background: The inappropriate use of analgesics can have implications on health and can also have effect on quality of life. This inappropriate use can lead to misusing healthcare resources and increasing healthcare costs. Objective: To determine the prevalence of analgesic misuse, pattern and side effects of analgesics among adults aged 15 -65 years attending general clinics in Al-Zaher primary health care center (PHCC) in Makkah. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Makkah at Alzaher PHCC enrolling 214 patients of age 15-65 years attending general clinics from August - September 2019. A systematic random sample technique was adopted to recruit adult patients attending clinics. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used for data collection including sociodemographic data, the pattern of analgesics use, and awareness about the analgesics use and its side effects. Results: The study included 214 participants. The mean age of our study participant was 37 ± 11.9 years. The prevalence of analgesics use was 94.9%. More than half of the participants who used analgesics (58.4%) claimed that these analgesics were not prescribed. The most frequently used analgesic was paracetamol (64.5%). The most frequent indications for using analgesics among the participants were headache (34.5%), joint pain (22.7%), and fever (11.8%). The prevalence of analgesics misuse among the participants was 26.6%. Most of the participants (73.4%) were aware of the analgesics misuse side effects. The most frequently known side effects were hepatotoxicity (39.3%) and nephrotoxicity (30.8%). Conclusion: The use of analgesics among the adult population in Makkah, particularly for headache is alarming. Misuse of analgesics is also higher that needs immediate attention. Awareness regarding analgesics side effects is high; however, for particular side effects, it is suboptimal.

Keywords: analgesic misuse, pattern, prevalence, primary health care Centre, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2020, 24(105), 3182-3190

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