RESUMO
Background: Self-medication (SM) plays an essential role in maintaining a good quality of life for individuals. Previous studies suggested that efforts are still needed to ensure the safe practice of SM. The advances in technology and the internet have granted the availability of abundant and easily accessed medication information. However, identifying the reliability of information could be a challenge for the public. This study aimed to investigate the attitude toward SM, determinants of SM, and knowledge about medication in Saudi Arabia. Also, this study aimed to assess the willingness to use a mobile app that would be specifically designed to guide the practice of SM. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a form of an online survey among the public in Saudi Arabia. QuestionPro® platform was utilized to collect data from respondents for two months. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM® SPSS® statistics version 26. Results: A total of 1226 individuals completed the questionnaire. The prevalence of SM practice was 59%. The most frequent reason for not practicing SM was the concern about the drug safety issues (38%). Significant statistical associations were identified between SM and several demographic variables, e.g., age, gender, education, health insurance, and having a chronic illness. Most respondents (82.7%) were aware of the necessity of improving SM practice. Knowledge about different aspects of SM (e.g., proper drug selection and administration) was evaluated based on the consumer's perspective. Our data showed that overall knowledge about SM was limited for many consumers. The assessment of the participant's willingness to use a SM app indicated that 47.6% were interested in using such app. This willingness was significantly associated with the consumer's attitude toward SM and being a chronically ill patient. Conclusion: SM is a common practice in Saudi Arabia. However, public awareness about SM is limited. So, implementing new strategies to enhance knowledge and ensure the safety of SM is important. A large proportion of participants were interested to use a SM app, which would improve SM practice. Therefore, we recommend developing a SM-oriented app to be used by the public in Saudi Arabia.
RESUMO
The present study was designed to prepare dapagliflozin (DFG) loaded ternary solid dispersions (SDs) using the carrier blend polyethylene glycol 6000 (PEG 6000) and poloxamer 188 (PLX 188). The prepared DFG-SDs were evaluated for solubility study, physicochemical characterization and molecular simulation study. The prepared DFG-SDs showed significant higher solubility and dissolution vis-a-vis pure DFG and DFG physical mixture. The composition DFG:PEG:PLX (1:2.25:0.75 mM) showed the highest solubility (0.476 ± 0.016 mg/mL). The physicochemical characterization confirms the polymorphic transition of DFG from crystalline state to stable amorphous form. The prepared DFG-SDs showed a significantly higher dissolution (64.78 ± 2.34% to 78.41 ± 2.39%) than pure DFG (15.70 ± 3.54%). DFG-SD2 showed a significantly enhanced drug permeation (p<.05) (58.76 ± 4.65 µg/cm) as compared to pure DFG (14.97 ± 3.32 µg/cm). The molecular docking study result revealed a good hydrophobic interaction of DFG with the used carrier due to the lowest energy pose. The interaction occurs between the methylene bridges and the central hydrophobic chain of polyoxypropylene of the polymer. Therefore, DFG-SDs prepared by microwave irradiation method using hydrophilic carrier blend might be a promising strategy for improving the solubility and in vitro dissolution performance.