Table 1 Overview of codes, sub-themes and overarching themes
From: Prescription medicine sharing: exploring patients’ beliefs and experiences
Codes (specific categories) | Code description | Sub-theme | Overarching theme |
|---|---|---|---|
Pain, asthma and sleep medications, antibiotics, and so forth. | Classes of medicines shared by participants | NA | Types of shared medicines |
Avoid doctor visit | Sharing avoids the need to visit a doctor | Saves time and money | Perceived benefits of sharing medicines |
Avoid hidden costs | Sharing avoid taking time off work or avoid inconveniencing work – avoids hidden cost | ||
To avoid waste | To avoid buying a packet when only need one dose or might not work | ||
Convenience | Sharing is more convenient, the medicines are readily available, no need to visit a GP | ||
Emergency | Sharing when someone is in great need of the medication or during emergency | ||
To try the medicine | To see if the medicine works before obtaining a personal supply | ||
Misplacing medicines | Misplacing own medicines and temporarily sharing other’s medicines | ||
Common minor condition | Sharing medicines when the patient perceives that the medical condition is minor | ||
Caring relationship | Sharing is a means of supporting each other during illness – caring relationship | Social support | |
Inappropriate dose/wrong medicines | Person takes inappropriate doses or wrong medicines | Unsafe and ineffective treatment | Negative experience from shared medicines |
Adverse drug events | Sharing might result in unanticipated side effects, drug interactions, allergy or contraindications | ||
Expired medicines might be shared | Expired medicines might be shared | ||
Risk of killing/harming | Sharing may have a risk of killing or harming a person | ||
Topical medicines are weaker than orally ingested medicines | Sharing topical medicines is not as risky as sharing pills – can be removed by washing | ||
Loss of medication instruction | Lack of information – e.g. borrower does not have information on risks, adverse outcomes, etc. | ||
Medical condition get worse | Sharing complicates simple medical conditions by delaying diagnosis and treatment | ||
Misdiagnosis | Sharing based on misdiagnosis could be dangerous | ||
Unhygienic | Sharing medicines (e.g., inhalers) is unhygienic | Public health risk | |
Antimicrobial resistance | Sharing might increase drug resistance | ||
Spread infection | Sharing creams/ointments might spread the disease – cross infection | ||
Affects social relationship | Sharing addictive medicines may affect one's personal relationship with others | Risk of drug dependence | |
Dependence | Sharing might result in drug dependence | ||
To help a friend or family | Sharing to help out others or to make someone feel better – caring relationship | Altruism | Factors influencing medicine sharing |
Ran out | Ran out of previously prescribed medicines | ||
Cost | Sharing saves doctor's fee, prescription charges, or cost of unsubsidised medicines | Limited access to medicines/health services | |
Access | Sharing when difficult to access medicines – for example prescription restriction and when pharmacy or doctors are inaccessible or where there is no nearby health facility | ||
Waiting times | Sharing medicines to avoid long appointment or waiting time at GP surgeries | ||
‘After hours’ | Sharing for pain occurring late at night or over the weekend – when a regular GP is not accessible | ||
Traveling | Sharing medicine during family trip, holiday trips or when traveling overseas | ||
Forgetfulness | Someone forgets to carry around their own medicines | ||
Leftover medicines | Having leftovers/unused medicines creates opportunity for sharing | Leftover medicines | |
Lack of information about safe disposal | Not knowing what to do with leftover or unused medicines | ||
HCPs not mentioning not to share | When patients do not receive information from health care providers about the risk of sharing | ||
Cultural influence | Cultural beliefs, family values and customs may influence medicine sharing | Sociocultural factors | |
Embarrassment | Embarrassment about seeing a doctor or embarrassed to carry around own medicines | ||
Ads/Internet | TV ads or the Internet encourages self-diagnosis and sharing medicines | ||
Familiarity with the medical condition or the medicine | Familiarity with the medical condition or the medicine– facilitates sharing | Experience of, and knowledge about illness and its treatment | Risk assessment strategy |
Complex medical condition | If the condition is complex – deterrent | ||
Uniqueness of medication for the person | Medicines meant for a specific condition are less likely to be shared | ||
Unaware of risk | Unaware of risk of sharing – facilitator | ||
Perception of efficacy | Assuming if the medicine worked for the lender it will do the same for the borrower | ||
Perceived danger of medicine | Concern about side effects – deterrent | ||
Borrower’s responsibility | Borrower decides and accepts responsibility for consequences | Borrower’s responsibility | |
Same symptoms | Having the same symptoms facilitates sharing | Symptoms matching | |
Same medicines | Attitude that taking similar medication as the other person might not have a negative effect on one’s health |