Assessment of Drug Use Pattern among Hajj Pilgrims Saudi Arabia, 1439h (2018)

Hajj pilgrimage is the biggest and longest mass gathering, thus increasing the risk of communicable and non-communicable diseases, so this study aimed to promote rational drug use and optimum provision of drugs among Hajj 1439 Pilgrims through the following objectives: To determine the prevalence and the context of the drug's use and to assess the drug use patterns among pilgrims. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out on randomly selected 785 Hajj Pilgrims, stratified according to their countries before their retrial in King Abdul Aziz Airport in Jeddah: The studied pilgrims were 52.4 % male,43.9% had chronic diseases, only 70.4% of studied pilgrims received medications, most of them were antibiotics 248 (33.8%), administrated orally 470 (90.6%), for managing chronic diseases 341 (61.66%), only 50% had written prescription. Patient care indicators; more than 80% of pilgrims knowing the drug/s correct dose, and 69.4 knowing the expired date. Facility indicators; 77% of studied pilgrims reported accessibility of medications, and only 12.4% of the bought drugs had been checked, and 20.3% complained of drug side effects mainly due to drugs unavailability. Conclusions; the drug use pattern is a prevalent and problematic issue among pilgrims due to many factors.