Antimicrobial resistance, COVID-19 and self-medication in Syria: a potential boost for an already escalating problem

Drug stockpiling behavior and its impact on anxiety among the general public in the early stage after the lifting of China's Zero-COVID policy: results from a web-based survey

Background

On 7 December 2022, China lifted most of the restrictions under the so-called zero-COVID policy due to factors like less toxicity of the new variants of the virus, leading to widespread infections throughout China.

Objectives

This study aims to assess the stockpiling behavior of COVID-19 medicines by the general population in Zhejiang at the early stage after China's zero-COVID policy cancellation and its impact on people's anxiety.

Methods

A cross-sectional, internet-based survey was conducted to collect information on COVID-19 drug purchasing behavior, sociodemographic characteristics, anxiety levels, etc. Chi-square tests and univariate analyses were used to explore the association between COVID-19 medicines purchasing behavior and sociodemographic characteristics. Multivariate analyses were employed to explore the impact of COVID-19 drug purchasing behavior on anxiety status.

Results

Among 38,480 participants, stockpiling behavior of COVID-19 medicines was reported by 35.74% of them and was most common among participants from Huzhou area, female, those who aged< 20 years, those with postgraduate education level, health workers. A total of 20,986 (54.54%) participants claimed that they were unable to access any COVID-19 medicines, while 3,742 (9.72%) participants felt it unnecessary to stockpile medicines. The majority of the participants (82.3%) experienced anxiety. Multivariate analyses found that compared to those with severe anxiety, those with moderate anxiety were 1.76 times more likely to have stockpiled COVID-19 medicine (aOR 1.76, 95% CI 1.64-1.89); those with mild anxiety were 2.11 times (aOR 2.11, 95% CI 1.98-2.24) more likely to have stockpiled COVID-19 medicine; those with no anxiety were 2.48 times (aOR 2.48, 95% CI 2.31-2.67) more likely to have stockpiled COVID-19 medicine.

Conclusion

At the early stage after China's zero-COVID policy cancellation, drug stockpiling among the public and the subsequent drug shortage was observed. There exists inequity in distribution between regions and among different groups of people. Many people experienced anxiety, especially those without access to COVID-19 medications. Measures for equitable drug distribution and public education on safe self-medication should be taken for future public health events.

Self-medication and the 'infodemic' during mandatory preventive isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic

AIM

Quarantine due to the COVID-19 pandemic altered the supply and demand of health services. This, together with the 'infodemic' and generalized panic, could alter the patterns of self-medication in the population. The objective was to characterize the patterns of self-medication in four cities of Colombia during mandatory preventive isolation in 2020.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study done in four Colombian cities during mandatory national preventive isolation between June and September 2020. A sample of 397 adults who responded to an online survey, based on the Instrument for Systematic Data Collection for Self-medication (Instrumento de Recolección Sistemática de Datos para la Automedicación-IRIS-AM), was obtained. The use of social networks (including WhatsApp) as the source of information about medications was explored.

RESULTS

The 397 people surveyed had a median age of 31.0 years, and 58.2% were women. The prevalence of self-medication during lockdown was 34.3% (n = 136). Medications targeting the nervous system (n = 117; 86.0% of those participants with self-medication) and the musculoskeletal system (n = 68; 50.0%) were the most commonly used. Ten (7.4%) of the self-medicated patients reported doing so to prevent COVID-19, and 15 (11.0%) named social networks as the source of information.

CONCLUSION

More than one-third of the participants reported self-medication during COVID-19 lockdown, mainly with analgesic-type nervous system medications. People who reported self-medication to prevent COVID-19 often got their information from social networks, the Internet, and WhatsApp.

PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY

Self-medication during mandatory COVID-19 isolation: Introduction: Self-medication refers to the use of medications to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, and it can lead to health problems. This habit is widely practiced by the people, especially in low- and middle-income countries. The objective was to characterize the patterns of self-medication in four cities of Colombia during mandatory preventive isolation in 2020 due the quarantine by COVID-19 explored pandemic. Methods: We made a cross-sectional study between June and September 2020, and a sample of 397 adults who responded to an online survey. The use of social networks (including WhatsApp) as the source of information about medications was explored. Results: The prevalence of self-medication during lockdown was 34.3% (n = 136). Medications targeting the nervous system (n = 117; 86.0% of those participants with self-medication) and the musculoskeletal system (strategies n = 68; 50.0%) were the most commonly used. Conclusion: People who reported self-medication to prevent COVID-19 often got their information from social networks, the Internet, and WhatsApp. These findings raise the possibility of designing pedagogical strategies on this topic.