There is a massive problem of self-medication misuse in the Middle East, according to a recent study.

The findings indicated that the need for better patient and physician education, as well as improved policies that restrict sales of prescription medications without a prescription.Self-medication is not limited to over-the-counter medicines. Patients self-medicate with prescription medicines that may have been prescribed and left over from a previous time. Also, even though it's not authorized, in some countries individuals sometimes buy prescription medicines directly from community pharmacies, especially for the short-term treatment of common diseases.In the Middle East, prescription medicines can easily be purchased without a prescription, resulting in potential misuse and unnecessary risk. To examine self-medication misuse in the Middle East, Malak Khalifeh of the Bordeaux University in France and her colleagues conducted an extensive review of literature published between 1990 and 2015.The team identified a total of 72 papers.

Medicines involved in misuse included codeine containing products, topical anesthetics, topical corticosteroids, antimalarial drugs, and antibiotics. Self-medication misuse seemed widespread, and pharmacists, friends, and parents were the main sources of medications.One study noted that pharmacies in Iran sold 57% of prescription items without a prescription. Another found that in Syria, 87% of 200 pharmacies visited agreed to sell antibiotics without a prescription. This figure increased to 97% when the investigators who were at first denied antibiotics insisted on having the antibiotics.In Saudi Arabia, only one attendant pharmacist refused to dispense medications without a prescription.

Strategies and interventions to limit misuse were rarely mentioned in studies.The findings indicate that there is a serious problem of self-medication misuse in the Middle East involving a range of medicines.There is a relative lack of literature relating to self-medication misuse in the Middle East, and there has been relatively little systematic research on this topic, partly due to the perception that self-mediation misuse is not as problematic as other types of drug abuse," said Khalifeh. "This review has found a massive problem, and it could be used as a reference for multiple research studies that deal with self-medication misuses in Middle Eastern countries."The study is published in Pharmacology Research & Perspectives