Table 1 Prevalence of OTC medicines misuse, abuse and dependence
Study | Study design | Sample size | Rate (%) of problematic use | OTC medicine | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Misuse | Abuse | Dependence | ||||
Roussin et al. [18] | Cross-sectional | 118 | 6.8% | 0.85% | 17.8% | Codeine-based analgesic |
70 | 37.1% | – | – | Sedative antihistamines | ||
Elander et al. [63] | Cross-sectional | 112 | 22% | – | – | Analgesics |
Wolf et al. [48] | Cross-sectional | 500 | 5.2% | – | – | Paracetamol |
Mehuys et al. [22] | Cross-sectional | 1,205 | 24% | – | – | 51% misused paracetamol |
7.2% misused acetylsalicylic acid | ||||||
23.6% misused NSAIDs | ||||||
58.2% misused caffeine-combined analgesics | ||||||
Agyapong et al. [39] | Cross-sectional | 117 | – | – | 6.7% | Pre-regulations on codeine supply |
126 | – | – | 4.2% | Post-regulations imposed on codeine supply | ||
Chan et al. [20] | Cross-sectional | 313 | 3.6% | – | – | Coughs mixtures with sedative properties in MSM (men having sex with men) |
3.1% | – | – | Coughs mixtures with sedative properties in non-MSM | |||
Hill et al. [21] | Cross-sectional | 474 | 39.45% | – | – | 60% misused Paracetamol/ Codeine |
14.5% misused Ibuprofen/ Codeine | ||||||
14% misused Diphenhydramine | ||||||
3% misused Promethazine | ||||||
Ki mergard et al. [41] | Cross-sectional | 316 | – | – | 17.1% | Codeine-based analgesics |
Al Kubaisi et al.[64] | Cross-sectional | 2355 | 22% | – | – | Analgesic/antipyretic (16.5%) |
Anti-allergic (4.9%) | ||||||
Tesfamariam et al. [47] | Cross-sectional | 609 | 14% | – | – | Analgesics, antipyretics, cough and cold preparations |
Fingleton et al. [19] | Cross-sectional | 411 | 19.3% | 4.1% | 2% | Misuse and dependence were common with OTC analgesics (alone or combined with codeine) and abuse was common with histamine containing products |
Eickhoff et al. [26] | Cross-sectional | 11,069 | Intended duration of drug use too high including drug abuse' was found in 17% and wrong dosage in 6.8% | – | – | OTC analgesics, laxatives and decongestants |
Mhatre and Sansgiry. [24] | Cross-sectional | 154 | 18% | – | – | OTC medicines |
Wojta-Kempa and Krzyzanowski [37] | Cross-sectional | 386 | 11% | – | – | OTC analgesics |
Abood and Wazaify [36] | Cross-sectional | 170 (community pharmacists) | 57.7% of participants suspected misuse or abuse | – | – | Ketoprofen (11, 3%) |
Chlorpheniramine (5, 7%) | ||||||
Codeine-based analgesics (4, 5%) | ||||||
Wright et al. [54] | Cross-sectional | 709 (community pharmacists) | 80.8% of pharmacists reported suspected OTC misuse | – | – | Codeine-based products were frequently reported |
Weidmann et al. [33] | Cross-sectional | 4,026 (community pharmacists) | 47.8% of pharmacists agreed that customers did could misuse Orlistat | – | – | Orlistat |
Barrett and Costa [34] | Cross-sectional | 32 (Community pharmacists) | 44% | – | – | Co codamol (codeine-based analgesic) |
Cairns et al. [27] | Retrospective | 400 (from 2004 to 2015) | 19.5% (an average annual percentage change) | – | – | Paracetamol/codeine |
17.9% (AAPC) | – | – | Ibuprofen/codeine | |||
Brass et al. [29] | Retrospective | – | 0.0638% (per 1000,000 population per 10 years) | – | – | Paracetamol-combination products |
Karami et al. [30] | Retrospective | – | – | Intentional abuse calls form 2000–2015 n = 3472 (11.4 mean rate per million population) | – | Single substance dextromethorphan |
Schifano and Chiappini [31] | Retrospective | 14.9% (intentional misuse) | 0.25% | 0.4% | Loperamide | |
Mill et al. [52] | Retrospective | 30 | 99 admissions for 30 patients due to misuse | – | – | Ibuprofen/codeine |
Lee et al. [32] | Retrospective | 26 | Of cases with known intent (n = 18), 12(67%) were misuse/ abuse | – | Loperamide | |
Stone et al. [25] | Prospective | 20 | At least one instance of potential misuse was found in 95% of participants | – | – | OTC pain and sleep medicines |