EVALUATION OF DRUG KNOWLEDGE AND A STUDY OF THE FREQUENCY OF IMPROPER DRUG DISTRIBUTION IN GROCERY STORE IN THE AREA OF DON SI CHUM SUBDISTRICT, DOK KHAMTAI DISTRICT, PHAYAO PROVINCE

Abstract

Background: Patients' safety is the primary goal of the promotion of rational drug use. However, the issue of an improper drug distribution in the community persists. Exploratory research on the improper sale of drugs in grocery stores is required to bring results to develop and design guidelines for consumer protection in the local area.

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of improper drug sales in grocery stores, analyze the awareness of drug use among grocery store owners, and examine the reasons behind such sales in the village of Don Si Chum Subdistrict Dokkhamtai District, Phayao Province.

Method: A sample of 39 grocery stores was purposive sampling. The primary-care pharmacist collected data using the developed form by looking into drug sales and interacting with 39 grocery store owners. Fisher's exact test was used to ascertain the relationship between various variables and improper drug use in the established grocery store after descriptive statistics were used to investigate general data.

Results: The prevalence of inappropriate drug sales was 31 grocery stores (79.49%). Traditional pharmaceuticals, hazardous drugs, and medications without formula registration numbers, medications without labels, or medications with insufficient labeling were the most prevalent categories of inappropriate medications. The common household medicines were sold in all grocery stores. The need of those in the community and the desire for profit were the driving forces behind drug distribution. The mean score knowledge of grocery store owners about the legislation governing the sale of medications in grocery stores and knowledge about medicines e.g. reading labels, the basic exam of drug quality and benefit or harm of medicines was 10.20±1.08 and 8.33±2.29 points, respectively (full score = 11 points).

Conclusion and recommendations: Most grocery stores (79.49%) sell dangerous and illegal drugs. Knowledge of grocery store owners about the legislation governing the sale of medications in grocery stores and knowledge about medicines e.g. reading labels, the basic exam of drug quality and benefit or harm of medicines, and the driving forces behind drug distribution may result in the problem of inappropriate drug use in the community. Thus, there should some interventions to encourage owners of grocery stores for proper pharmaceuticals that are allowed for sale in such stores.