IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/plo/pone00/0244373.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unforeseen uses of oral contraceptive pills: Exploratory study in Jordanian community pharmacies

Author

Listed:
  • Muna Barakat
  • Raja’a Al-Qudah
  • Amal Akour
  • Najem Al-Qudah
  • Yahya H Dallal Bashi

Abstract

Background: The use of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) as a birth control method is very common worldwide. OCPs have many other labeled non-contraceptive indications, and as a result there is an associated risk of improper use, as with any other medications. This study was designed to assess the unforeseen improper uses of OCPs observed by community pharmacists in Jordan. Method: A cross-sectional study design was conducted using a self-administered survey. A convenience sample (n = 380) of Jordanian community pharmacists, were recruited through social media resources. The survey included multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were completed using SPSS. Results: More than half of the recruited pharmacists (55.3%) were female, and the mean age of the participants was 32.58 ± 9.94. The majority of the pharmacists (85%) had good knowledge about the non-contraceptive indications of OCPs. About 53% of them confirmed their exposure to cases of the improper use of OCPs. About 67.5% of the pharmacists who confirmed exposure to such cases, reported the topical use of OCPs for the enhancement of hair growth. Around 15% of those pharmacists stated that OCPs were used to give negative results for addictive drug screening tests. In the event that the pharmacists suspected improper use, more than 90% suggested they would refrain from dispensing the pills. Conclusion: This study has spotlighted many unforeseen uses of OCPs in Jordan and highlighted the need for restricted national regulations on the monitoring of OCP prescription/selling patterns in Jordan by policymakers. Moreover, there is a need for the establishment of national educational programs for the Jordanian community regarding the safe proper use of OCPs.

Suggested Citation

  • Muna Barakat & Raja’a Al-Qudah & Amal Akour & Najem Al-Qudah & Yahya H Dallal Bashi, 2020. "Unforeseen uses of oral contraceptive pills: Exploratory study in Jordanian community pharmacies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(12), pages 1-14, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0244373
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0244373
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244373
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0244373&type=printable
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1371/journal.pone.0244373?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Maria Laura Ilardo & Antonio Speciale, 2020. "The Community Pharmacist: Perceived Barriers and Patient-Centered Care Communication," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-16, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sarah Al Assaf & Romana Zelko & Balazs Hanko, 2022. "The Effect of Interventions Led by Community Pharmacists in Primary Care for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus on Therapeutic Adherence and HbA1c Levels: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-16, May.
    2. Kingston Rajiah & Shreeta Sivarasa & Mari Kannan Maharajan, 2021. "Impact of Pharmacists’ Interventions and Patients’ Decision on Health Outcomes in Terms of Medication Adherence and Quality Use of Medicines among Patients Attending Community Pharmacies: A Systematic," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(9), pages 1-14, April.
    3. Claire Coutureau & Florian Slimano & Céline Mongaret & Lukshe Kanagaratnam, 2022. "Impact of Pharmacists-Led Interventions in Primary Care for Adults with Type 2 Diabetes on HbA1c Levels: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0244373. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: plosone (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.