Determination of Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices on Medication Use and Safety among Saudi People: A Public- based Versus an Internet-based Survey

Suboptimal knowledge and negative attitudes on medication use and its safety, coupled with irrational practices, negatively impact the general public health. The major objective of this study was to measure public knowledge, identify their attitudes and practices on medication use and safety, and identify predictors of the three studied domains (knowledge, attitudes, and practices). Two cross-sectional surveys (Public-based and internet-based) were conducted from June to October 2015. Adult (> 18 years old) Saudi residing in Taif City, KSA were included. The convenience sampling method was adopted. Data was collected using a structured- questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed. P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

SPSS was used to analyse the data. A total of 788 people(386 for the public study and 402 for the internet study, respectively) were recruited . 302 (75.1%) of respondents recruited electronically had adequate knowledge of medication use, compared to 234 (60.6%) recruited manually (P =< 0.001). Higher education was a predictor of satisfied knowledge among public survey interviewees [OR= 1.9; 95 percent CI (1.2-2.9); P = 0.003]. However, among electronically responded participants, age (> 30 years) and higher educational level were significantly associated with satisfactory knowledge [OR= 0.6; 95 percent CI (0.4-1.0); P = 0.032] and [OR= 1.9; 95 percent CI (1.1-3.2); P = 0.015], respectively.Misconceptions about medication use and safety were discovered in knowledge, attitudes, and practises. It is critical to provide public education that results in positive changes.