Perception of community pharmacists on abuse of psychotropic medications among the consumers

Abstract

Purpose: Abuse of medications implies that the user is using them for reasons other than those indicated in the prescribing literature. Psychotropic medications are those capable of affecting the mind, emotions, and behavior of humans. This study sought to determine the perception of community pharmacists about the pattern of psychotropic medication abuse among their customers. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study carried out among community pharmacists in Surulere axis of Lagos State, Nigeria, by census sampling method using a structured questionnaire. Results: Majority of the respondents (74.7%) were male and within ten years of practice experience (85.1%). About four-fifth (84.4%) of the respondents perceived that psychotropic medications were being abused by customers purchasing such medications from them. Caffeine-based analgesics ranked highest (85.1%) among the drugs perceived to be abused while dextromethorphan-containing cough syrup, sedative antihistamine, codeine-based analgesics, tramadol, oral decongestant, and benzodiazepines were perceived to be equally abused (84.4%). Male customers were perceived to abuse psychotropic medications more than their female counterparts and abuse of tramadol and codeine-based analgesics were specifically noted to be higher in customers younger than 26 years of age. Conclusion: Consumer psychotropic medication abuse at community pharmacies was perceived to be significant in Lagos community pharmacies.