Kelwin Kaliba
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are a drugs that are used to treat inflammatory processes and also used to relieve pain in inflammatory areas of the body by inhibiting two enzymes that are involve in inflammation. This group of drugs includes aspirin, Indometacin, Brustan, Diclofenac, Ibuprofen, Sulindac, Naproxen, Piroxcam, and Paracetamol. Though Paracetamol is included in here, it does not basically work in the same way as other NSAIDS and does not prevent inflammation but it relieve pain and is also commonly abused. These drugs are used to treat wide variety of pain such as headache, backache, dysmenorrhea, muscular pains etc. people overuse them and this cause many effects in the body of humans. The study focused on the prevalence, the most affected group of people that abuse the NSAIDs and Paracetamol the signs and symptoms associated with the abuse of NSAIDs. The study was a cross sectional study which focused on residents Ndola district of Copperbelt province of Zambia. Objectives: The objectives of this research were to determine the causes, associated risk factors and prevalence of NSAIDs abuse cases among the residents of Ndola city. Methodology: The study was a cross-sectional study that targeted Ndola city residents both males and females aged 18 years and above. The sample size was 385 but only 371 questionnaires were filled give a response rate of 96%the study was conducted from June 2020 to January 2021. The data was analyzed using SPSS software considering the frequencies and the chi-square method. Results: Out of 371 respondents 198 were females which make 53.4% and 173 were male which make up to 46.6%. The mean age was young adults making up to 63.3%, above 45 years old was 14.6%, 18.6% were middle age. 52.8% were tertiary education. 32.6% were of secondary education the remaining percentage was primary education and illiterate which. 89.1% used pain killers. Brufen, diclofenac and paracetamol were the most commonly used drugs. 9.23% of the population was found to abuse drugs No associated risk factor pain killer use was found however female sex showed to use pain killers more than males. Those above the age of 45years used pain killers than younger age. Conclusion: We have shown that on average about 9.23% of the population abuse pain killers however no factor was identified to contribute the abuse of these drugs further studies on this topic will help to establish the factors responsible for abuse of these pain killer drugs. Recommendations: Based on my finding from this research I recommend that the Zambia medicines regulatory committee should step up there inspections of shops and drug stores possibly to limit the sale of pain killers to pharmacies that have a qualified pharmacists who can guide the people who buy pain killers on the dosage and duration of taking pain killers, the ZAMRA also should start conducting health education to educate the people about the side effects of using and abusing pain killers.
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