Awareness of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) use among population in Saudi Arabia

Background: Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) are one of the most frequently medicines used among the world. They are responsible for a wide range of adverse effects that are ranging from mild to life threatening in severe cases. The aimed of this study to ascertain user's knowledge about NSAIDs among population in Saudi Arabia Methodology: A cross-sectional study including 449 participants, who were users of NSAIDs in Saudi Arabia during October-December 2017. The data were collected using online questionnaire. The questionnaire contained basic socio-demographic information of participants and questions about the participant's knowledge of adverse effects, their types and NSAIDs uses. SPSS 23; including, frequency, description and chi square were used for analysis. Result: Majority, 80.6% of participants were female. Ibuprofen was the most common type of NSAIDs used by participants 61.9%. About 33% of participants were aware that these drugs can cause headache\dizziness and nausea\vomiting. However, 27.8% think that these drugs must be sold without a prescription. Additionally, the majority 87.5% feel that the use of NSAIDs is abused. There were a significant association between the availability of NSAIDs without a physician prescription with age, gender and employment status P-value (<0.05). While there was no significant association with educational status. Conclusion: the present study revealed a limited individual's knowledge about the NSAIDs adverse effects among Saudi Arabia. People need more educations or consultations with health care team specially the pharmacists. In a way to reduce their misuse or abuse or even unnecessarily prescribed. Keywords: NSAIDs; Saudi Arabia; Awareness; Knowledge; Saudi Arabia