Objectives

Purchasing medicinal products from the internet has become more popular in the last three decades. Understanding consumers’ use and perception of the safety of medicinal products obtained online is essential. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the extent of medicines purchased from the internet in Saudi Arabia, types of products, sources of information, the satisfaction, the motivational factors, and estimate consumers’ vigilance and tendency to report ADRs if occurred.

Design

A prospective cross-sectional study using a custom-designed questionnaire was conducted among community adults in Saudi Arabia, age ≥ 18.

Setting

Evaluation of community subjects' perception towards buying medicinal products was done through the internet in Saudi Arabia from 1st July 2020 until the end of August 2020.

Main outcome measure(s)

The main outcome of the study was purchasing medicinal products from the internet (Yes, No).

Results

Overall, 36% of the study participants (n = 643) have ever bought medicinal products from the internet (Table 2). Of those, the most obtained was herbal medicine, supplements, or cosmetics (61.3%). Motivational factors towards purchasing medicinal products from the internet were mostly positive, with the most commonly reported agreed motivational factors were lower cost (55.7%), easy online access (54.1%), a wide variety of products (52.6%), and more privacy (43.6%). Around 60.4% of participants believed that buying medicinal products from the internet can be safe. The most perceived risk was the difficulty of distinguishing between registered online pharmacies and other unlicensed commercial websites, with only 32.7% of the participants distinguishing between registered and unlicensed commercial websites.

Conclusions

This study sheds light on the consumers’ use and perception of the safety and risks of medicinal products purchased from the internet. The study findings noticeably describe the great need to increase safety awareness about obtaining medicinal products from the internet among the Saudi community.

中文翻译：

---

评估沙特阿拉伯在线购买医药、草药和保健产品的频率、消费者的动机和感知

目标

在过去的三年里，从互联网上购买药品变得越来越流行。了解消费者对在线获得的药品的使用和安全性的看法至关重要。因此，本研究旨在评估沙特阿拉伯从互联网上购买的药品的范围、产品类型、信息来源、满意度、动机因素，并估计消费者的警惕性和如果发生 ADR 报告的倾向。

设计

在沙特阿拉伯社区成年人中进行了一项使用定制设计问卷的前瞻性横断面研究，年龄 ≥ 18。

环境

从 2020 年 7 月 1 日至 2020 年 8 月底，在沙特阿拉伯通过互联网评估了社区受试者对购买药品的看法。

主要观察指标）

该研究的主要结果是从互联网上购买药品（是，否）。

结果

总体而言，36% 的研究参与者（n = 643）曾经从互联网上购买过药品（表 2）。其中，获得最多的是草药、补充剂或化妆品（61.3%）。从互联网购买药品的动机因素大多是积极的，最常见的一致动机因素是成本较低（55.7%）、在线访问方便（54.1%）、产品种类繁多（52.6%）和更多隐私(43.6%)。大约 60.4% 的参与者认为从互联网上购买药品是安全的。最大的风险是难以区分注册的在线药店和其他无牌商业网站，只有 32.7% 的参与者区分注册和无牌商业网站。

结论

这项研究揭示了消费者对从互联网购买的药品的安全性和风险的使用和看法。研究结果明显描述了提高沙特社区对从互联网获取医药产品的安全意识的巨大需求。