Prescription and over-the-counter drug misuse among female students at a Saudi university

Abstract

Background: Over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription drug misuse is understudied among Arab youth. We estimated the prevalence, correlates and reasons for misusing these drugs among female King Saud University students. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study in 2019, using self-administered questionnaires inquiring about lifetime, past-year, and past-month misuse, reasons for misuse and prescription drugs sources. Results: Five-hundred and nineteen students (91.53%) responded. Lifetime OTC drug misuse was 29.09% (95% CI = 25.19%, 33.00%), while past-year and past-month misuse were 22.35% (95% CI = 18.77%, 25.93%) and 11.95% (95% CI = 9.16%, 14.74%), respectively. Lifetime prescription drug misuse was 62.24% (95% CI = 58.06%, 66.41%), whereas past-year and past-month misuse were 52.60% (95% CI = 48.31%, 56.90%) and 34.68% (95% CI = 30.59%, 38.78%), respectively. Tramadol was most commonly misused. Prescription drugs were obtained from family members. Health-college students had 13% lower odds for misusing OTC drugs (AOR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.50, 1.50), and 21% lower odds for misusing prescription drugs (AOR = 0.79, 95% CI = 0.54, 1.15), compared to non-health college students. Conclusions: Prescription drug misuse is high among these female students. Education of students and their families about the harms of misusing these drugs is warranted.