Authors: Khalid A Al-Kubaisi, Mark D SteCroix, Don Vinson, Mirza R Baig, Moustafa N Hassan, Suleiman I Sharif, Abduelmula R. Abduelkarem.
Objective: This study is designed to measure the prevalence of polypharmacy and identify factors associated with this behavior among university students in UAE.
Methods: A cross-sectional study. Participants were asked whether they used Oral Non-Prescription Drugs (ONPD) in the last 90 days before conducting the study and then to provide details regarding how many ONPD they you usually take for self-treating a single illness a day.
Results: Out of 2355 participants, only 1348 were ONPD users in the past 90 day. More than one-third (461,34.2%) of user participants were multi medications users and seven variables were identified as factors associated with polypharmacy: frequency of use (OR= 3.443, 95% CI: 1.899-5.905, p<0.001), dose seeking- behaviour (OR= 1.919, 95% CI: 1.440-2.557, p<0.001), effectiveness–belief (OR= 0.763, 95% CI: 0.591-0.986, p=0. 038), informal source (OR= 1.366, 95% CI: 1.058-1.764, p=0.017), self-care orientation (OR=1.792, 95% CI: 1.363-2.356, p<0.001), perceived-health (OR=1.546, 95% CI: 1.150-2.077, p<0.01) and inappropriate drug use (OR = 1.633, 95% CI: 1.062-2.509, p<0.05).
Conclusion: There is a need for an educational intervention to motivate students to self-use non-prescription drugs more wisely.
Practice Implications: Motivating factors that are significantly associated with polypharmacy behavior include frequency of use, dose seeking- behavior, effectiveness-belief, frequency of use, dose seeking- behavior, effectiveness– belief, self-care.
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