Online medication purchasing during the Covid-19 pandemic: A pilot study from the United Arab Emirates

Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice

Maimona Jairoun¹  Faris El-Dahiyat²  Sabaa Saleh Al-Hemyari³  Zaheer-Ud-Din Babar⁴  Saleh Karamah AL-Tamimi⁵  Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun⁶  Naseem Mohammed Abdulla⁶ 

[1] College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, UAE;College of Pharmacy, Al Ain University, Al Ain, UAE;Department of Pharmacy, Ministry of Health and Prevention, Dubai, UAE;Department of Pharmacy, School of Applied Sciences, University of Huddersfield, HD1 3DH, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK;Faculty of Pharmacy, Aden University, Aden, Yemen;Health and Safety Department, Dubai Municipality, Dubai, UAE;

关键词: Online pharmacies;    COVID-19;    Patient safety;    Online medication;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40545-021-00320-z

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundSince the WHO announced that Covid-19 had become a global pandemic, online pharmacies have emerged as an extremely popular way to purchase medication due to the quarantine measures introduced by numerous countries to prevent the virus's spread.AimThe aim of this study was to collect information regarding the extent of online medication purchasing in the UAE and to assess the factors that motivating the purchase of medications from the internet.MethodA convenience sampling of people living in the UAE was used to conduct an online descriptive cross-sectional study. Respondents were solicited using the social media platforms WhatsApp and Facebook, whereby they were asked to fill in a validated web-based questionnaire. The number of people buying medications from online pharmacies was calculated using a percentage with 95% CIs.Results131 respondents (31.2%) [95% CI: 26.7–35.6] stated that they purchased medication via the internet after Covid-19 was classed as a pandemic. It was found that those respondents most likely to have purchased medication via the internet were male, single, and older and with a high school education.ConclusionMore research should be conducted to investigate and compare the self-medication and associated risk factors between online pharmacies and community pharmacies. Moreover, regulatory bodies need to make and implement changes to the regulations that govern the sale and use of medications during COVID-19.

【 授权许可】

CC BY