Waleed M. Sweileh & Reem T. Arafat

ABSTRACT: Aims:

The effectiveness of drug therapy is largely influenced

by noncompliance, which is believed to be affected by attitude toward drugs.

The aim of the this study was to evaluate the attitudes toward drugs from an

epidemiological perspective in Palestine.

Methodology:

A cross-sectional study, based on questionnaire survey

randomly distributed to individuals in Palestine in the period starting

November 2004 to January 2005. Data collected were entered and analyzed

using Statistical Package for Social Sciences Program (SPSS) version 11 for

windows.

ATTITUDES TOWARD MEDICATIONS…

Out of 573 respondents, 79.9% considered drugs as positive, a help;

15.4% viewed medication as necessary, evil; 4.7% considered medication as

negative danger. “Self-Care” oriented people viewed medications more

positive than others. Differences in attitude were observed among users of

different types of drugs; those using antihypertensive or asthmatic,

psychotropic drugs viewed medication more negatively than others. Patient’s

medication knowledge greatly affects attitude toward drugs and thus patients

compliance and drug effectiveness.

Discussion and Conclusion:

The majority of the study sample viewed