ANALYSIS OF OPINIONS OF RESPONDENTS ON THE USE OF OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICINE PREPARATIONS
Authors: Tkaczenko Halina , Walentynowicz Aleksandra , Kurhaluk Natalia 
Published: December 2023

Purpose: The aim of the study is to analyze the respondents' opinions on the use of OTC drugs.
Methodology. The source study material was 100 respondents in various age groups. The study involved 66 women and 34 men. Most of them were people with secondary (40 %) or vocational (30 %) education. People with higher education accounted for 11 %, incomplete higher education – 12 %, and respondents with lower secondary education – 5 %; 2 % of respondents had primary education. The study was conducted at the Institute of Biology and Earth Sciences of the Pomeranian University in Słupsk among current randomly selected students and in two different workplaces, such as the Gino Rossi production plant and Tytan (Pomeranian Voivodeship, Poland). The largest group among the respondents consisted of people aged 15-24 (32 %), while 20 % of respondents were in the age group of 35-44 and 45-54. The age group of respondents aged between 55 and 64 accounted for 16 % of the respondents, while people aged 25-34 – only 9 %. The smallest number of people participating in the study was in the age group over 65 (3 %).
Scientific novelty. The analysis of the results of our research showed that a similar number of respondents (33 %, 30 %) use OTC drugs or pharmaceuticals sporadically or several times. As many as 16 % of the survey participants take them repeatedly, while 21 % of the respondents have never used OTC drugs and pharmaceuticals. On the other hand, 46 % of respondents admitted that they never consult a doctor or pharmacist on the use of OTC medicines or pharmaceuticals, 24 % of respondents declare that they always pay attention to seeking advice before taking new drugs and pharmaceuticals, and 30 % of respondents sometimes consults about taking drugs and pharmaceuticals for the first time. Our research has shown that 33 % of respondents believe that the use of OTC drugs and pharmaceutical preparations may be rather harmful to health, while 28 % of respondents cannot define their opinion. Only 4 % of the respondents consider the use of OTC drugs to be safe. Also, 62 % of the respondents answered that they had never used drugs and pharmaceutical preparations contrary to the recommendations. Quite rarely, such a situation occurred in 25 % of respondents, while quite often and very often, such situations occurred in 8 % and 5 % of respondents. Only 6 % of respondents declared that they very often used OTC drugs and pharmaceuticals, despite the fact that they had contraindications to do so. In 81 % of the respondents, such situations occurred rather rarely, and 13 % of opinion givers quite often encountered a situation in which they used OTC drugs and pharmaceuticals, despite the fact that they had contraindications to do so.
Conclusions. This study demonstrated that most of our respondents know that OTC drugs can have adverse health effects. It should be emphasized, however, that a smaller group of respondents consult a doctor or pharmacist at the first contact with a given drug. Only a few taking over-the-counter drugs for the first time do not seek information about their properties and effects. Only a small proportion of respondents admit to misuse of OTC drugs.