Pattern of Analgesic Use among Public Customers and their Awareness about its Side Effects

Abstract

Pain is defined by world health organization as “an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage, or described in terms of such damage.” The inclusion of the word “emotional” is crucial for the understanding of the implications of pain perception by a subject. The obvious consequence of this is that that pain perception is unique to each individual, as well as pain threshold is different in subjects. Pain is common medical problem and can lead to impaired functionality, depression and a lower quality of life. Mild to moderate acute pain is treated with acetaminophen (paracetamol) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as first-line agents. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs as first-line agents are generally categorized as: a) non-selective compounds which inhibit both cyclooxygenase enzyme1 and cyclooxygenase enzyme 2. In this study, we investigated the most common types of analgesics used by the customers, the common pain in which analgesics are used, and the knowledge of the most important side effects resulting from the use of these analgesics. The study was conducted at private pharmacies in Derna city .it is survey study (prospective sample) depended on a questionnaires that were distributed on pharmacies during the period July-September 2022. The data was collected and an analysis was carried out. The results showed that the most common analgesics were Paracetamol and ketofan, the most common pains in which these analgesics used for are headaches and dental pain, followed by dysmenorrhea and back pain. As for the side effects, they ranged from upset stomach (indigestion) Peptic ulcers, sleep, constipation and nausea. Conclusion: The most commonly used pain reliever was paracetamol, while the most common pain was headache, and the most common side effect was stomach upset (indigestion).