PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Alosaimi, Fahad D.
AU  - Alruwais, Fay S.
AU  - Alanazi, Fadah A.
AU  - Alabidi, Ghaida A.
AU  - Aljomah, Nadia A.
AU  - Alsalameh, Nuha S.
TI  - Patients reasons for obtaining psychotropic medications without a prescription at retail pharmacies in Central Saudi Arabia
AID  - 10.17712/nsj.2016.4.20160245
DP  - 2016 Oct 01
TA  - Neurosciences Journal
PG  - 338--344
VI  - 21
IP  - 4
4099  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/21/4/338.short
4100  - http://nsj.org.sa/content/21/4/338.full
SO  - Neurosciences (Riyadh)2016 Oct 01; 21
AB  - Objective: To explore the possible causes behind adults seeking psychotropic medications without a prescription; identify the most commonly used psychotropic medications without a prescription; and determine the prevalence of depression and anxiety disorders among adults who used psychotropic medications without a prescription in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from November 2014 to August 2015. A convenience sample was taken by distributing a self-administered questionnaire among participants who had obtained psychotropic medications without a prescription from retail pharmacies during the 4 weeks prior to study intake in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In addition to the study questionnaire, the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire was used to screen for major depressive disorder, and the 7-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale was used to screen for general anxiety disorders.Results: Of the 302 subjects, 42.4% attributed their use of psychotropic medications without a prescription to the non-seriousness of their symptoms and 28.5% to the high cost of psychiatric services. Escitalopram was the most commonly used medication (31.8%), and 3 atypical antipsychotics were used by more than one-fifth of the study participants. The prevalence for major depressive disorder was 46.0% and 41.7% for generalized anxiety disorder.Conclusions: Most of the participants were able to easily obtain psychotropic medications without a prescription. We recommend implementing strong policies to prevent retail pharmacies from dispensing psychotropic medications without a prescription.