• Abir Elghazaly, Saud Alsahali, Maryam Farooqui, Nada Ibrahim, Mohammed Alshammari, Asma Almutairi, Manar Almutairi, and Wafa Almutairi.
• Department of Pharmacy Practice, Unaizah College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Unaizah, Saudi Arabia.
• Patient Prefer Adher. 2023 Jan 1; 17: 137113791371-1379.

PurposeSelf-medication (SM) using non-opioid analgesics (NOA) is contentious and increasingly recognized as a major public health concern with severe consequences, including masking of malignant and fatal diseases, risk of misdiagnosis, problems relating to over- and under-dosing, drug interactions, incorrect dosage, and choice of therapy. Herein, we aim to determine the prevalence of SM with NOA among pharmacy and medical students at Unaizah College, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia.Patients And MethodsA cross-sectional study using a validated self-administered questionnaire was conducted on 709 pharmacy and medicine students belonging to an age group of 21-24 years from Unaizah Colleges. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS version 21.ResultsOf 709 participants, 635 responded to the questionnaire. Our results showed a prevalence percentage of 89.6% using self-medicated NOA for pain management. The most common factor leading to SM in NOA was the mild nature of the illness (50.6%), and headache/migraine (66.8%) was the dominant health problem. Paracetamol (acetaminophen, 73.7%) was the most commonly used analgesic, followed by ibuprofen (16.5%). The most common and reliable sources of drug information were pharmacists (51.5%).ConclusionWe observed a high rate of SM for NOA among undergraduate students. We believe that the adverse consequences of SM could be controlled through educational, regulatory, and administrative strategies by providing appropriate awareness sessions, and the role of pharmacists should be highlighted in preventing SM from NOA.© 2023 Elghazaly et al.

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