ArticleRisk management and healthcare policy2020
Community Pharmacists' Views of the Enforced Antibiotics Dispensing Law and Its Impact on Oral Antibiotics Sales in Saudi Arabia.
Article in Risk management and healthcare policy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Multi-stakeholder perspective on community pharmacy services in Saudi Arabia: A systematic review and meta-analyses for 2010-2020.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2025Review
- Confronting antimicrobial resistance in Jordan: regulatory, economic, and behavioral determinants of non-prescription antibiotic dispensing in community pharmacies-a mixed-methods study.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Barriers and determinants of over-the-counter antibiotic sales de-escalation: perspectives of community pharmacists in Aseer, Saudi Arabia.Frontiers in medicine · 2025Article
- Article
- Suspected inappropriate use of prescription and non-prescription drugs among requesting customers: A Saudi community pharmacists' perspective.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2023Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and perception of community pharmacists towards antimicrobial stewardship in Saudi Arabia: A descriptive cross-sectional study.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2022Article
- The evaluation of adverse drug reactions in Saudi Arabia: A retrospective observational study.Saudi pharmaceutical journal : SPJ : the official publication of the Saudi Pharmaceutical Society · 2022Article
- Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Pharmacy Professionals Against Dispensing Antibiotics Without Prescription in Ethiopia.Integrated pharmacy research & practice · 2022Article
- Prevalence of antibiotic misuse in cases of pneumonia and diarrhea in Saudi Arabia.Drug target insightsArticle
- Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of using Antibiotics among the Community in Eastern Province, Saudi Arabia.Journal of pharmacy & bioallied sciencesArticle
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe aim of this study was to explore community pharmacists' views toward the antibiotics dispensing law that was enforced in May 2018 and bans the sale of antibiotics without a prescription in community pharmacy settings in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the potential impact of the law enforcement on the sales of oral antibiotics in Saudi Arabia was also explored.
methodsA questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was conducted between September 2019 and March 2020 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A multistage sampling technique was used to recruit community pharmacists from different districts. Pharmacists who consented to participate and reported practicing prior to the law enforcement were interviewed about their views of the law using a 14-item newly developed questionnaire. The annual sales of oral antibiotics for the years of 2017, 2018, and 2019 were retrieved from the Saudi Food and Drug Authority (SFDA) database.
resultsTwo hundred and eighty six pharmacists consented to participate and met the inclusion criteria. After the law enforcement, approximately 51% of the participants reported that the percentage of patients seeking antibiotics without a prescription is less than 25%. Moreover, the majority (87.41%) reported a drop in the sales of antibiotics. Additionally, about 90% of the participants believed that the rate of inappropriate use of antibiotics will decrease as a result of the law enforcement. About 41% of the participants reported that the law has negatively impacted their pharmacies' profits. The sales of oral antibiotics have seen a 16.6% drop in the year of 2019 as compared to 2017.
conclusionThe antibiotics dispensing law is favorably perceived among community pharmacists in Saudi Arabia despite some concerns about its impact on their sales. Exploring different business models that delink the profits from the volume of antibiotics sales is necessary for this vital industry to thrive.
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