Published online May 6, 2023. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v11.i13.2956
Peer-review started: August 1, 2022
First decision: October 24, 2022
Revised: November 9, 2022
Accepted: April 4, 2023
Article in press: April 4, 2023
Published online: May 6, 2023
The Global Burden of Disease Study indicated that drug abuse was China’s 18th most common reason for disability-adjusted life years. Moreover, the incidence of drug-induced liver injury in China was 23.90 per 100000 people annually, as reported in 2019, which was higher than that in Western countries. The high incidence of medication errors and adverse events is significantly associated with an increased risk of morbidity, mortality, prolonged hospitalization, and increased economic burden.
The knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior around medication safety in the general population are important, and no study to date has focused on the general population in China.
The knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior regarding medication safety were described, and factors potentially impacting those aspects were explored.
This cross-sectional survey recruited from 18 districts and counties in Harbin, China. The knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior for medication safety were obtained from a questionnaire. Both univariate and multivariate analyses were used to explore the factors that impacted medication safety.
The mean scores for knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior were 59.41, 40.66, and 60.97, respectively. The medication knowledge score was affected by age (P = 0.044), education (P < 0.001), and working status (P = 0.015); the cultural beliefs score was significantly affected by education (P < 0.001); working status (P = 0.011) and education (P = 0.003) were significantly associated with behavior score.
Knowledge, cultural beliefs, and behavior about medication safety in the general population were moderate, and the main impact factors were age, education, and working status.
The elderly, individuals with a low education level, and the unemployed should receive further health education to ensure the safe use of medications in Harbin, China.