The Misuse of Prescribed Drugs during the Syrian Crisis: a Cross-sectional Study
- 13 Jan 2020
- Recently published Research - Pharmacy
| Researchers | Dr Samar Alzeer; Thurya Alaryan; Tharaa Abou Hasan and Manal Eshelli |
| Published in | International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 10 December 2019. |
| Abstract | This study aimed to investigate the drugs misuse in community pharmacies at Damascus and the countryside area during the Syrian crisis. The cross-sectional study was conducted on 143 community pharmacists in the selected area between December 2016 and March 2017 by using a structured questionnaire. The data was collected randomly and analysed by GraphPad Prism 4. The results indicated that drug misusers in the Countryside were higher among adolescents in comparison to Damascus. The most requested drugs were Carisoprodol and tramadol. The suspected misusers were requesting these drugs without a prescription. The drug misusers used different behavior approaches; 80.82 % of the misusers have used emotional appeal and 50.68% odd prescription. In response, pharmacists mostly denied the presence of the drugs or refused to sell them. This investigation is the first observation of prescribed drugs misuse during the Syrian crisis. This study recommends establishing an online platform between pharmacists to report such behaviors. Key words: Damascus, Damascus countryside, prescribed drugs misuse, Carisoprodol, Tramadol, Syrian Crisis. |
| Link to read full paper |
