Over-the-Counter Medication Use among Parents in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: Self-medication is a growing public health concern worldwide. Studies have shown a gap between best practice and the current practice of using over-the-counter (OTC) medications. Despite being a well-recognised problem in Saudi Arabia, few studies have investigated OTC medication use in Saudi Arabia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the attitudes and knowledge of parents regarding OTC medication use in the Jeddah region, Saudi Arabia. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out via an electronic questionnaire sent randomly to parents over four months, from 1 January to 30 April 2022. The participants’ characteristics and categorical variables were represented descriptively by frequency and percentage. A Chi-square test was used to test the relationship between the variables. Results: In total, 211 questionnaires were included in this study. Females represented 54.5% of the participants included in the study. Parents belonging to the 18-to-30-year-old group comprised the highest percentage (37.9%), and most of the parents (72.9%) had received an undergraduate education. Family physicians were the most common source (37.3%) of information about OTC medications, whereas more than half of parents purchased OTC medications from the community pharmacy (58.8%). While almost half of the parents (52.1%) visited a family physician when side effects of OTC medications appeared in their children, only (33.6%) stopped giving their children the OTC medicine. The relationship between the sociodemographic characteristics (including educational level, marital status, and employment status) and OTC drug consumption was significant (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Educational campaigns are needed to guide patients about the proper use of OTC medications. Studies on OTC medication use are lacking in Saudi Arabia in terms of its frequency, reasons for use, type of self-medication, and contributing factors

Wet-dry cycling extends seed persistence by re-instating antioxidant capacity

Seeds in the field experience wet-dry cycling that is akin to the well-studied commercial process of seed priming in which seeds are hydrated and then re-dried to standardise their germination characteristics. To investigate whether the persistence (defined as in situ longevity) and antioxidant capacity of seeds are influenced by wet-dry cycling, seeds of the global agronomic weed Avena sterilis ssp. ludoviciana were subjected to (1) controlled ageing at 60% relative humidity and 53.5A degrees C for 31 days, (2) controlled ageing then priming, or (3) ageing in the field in three soils for 21 months. Changes in seed viability (total germination), mean germination time, seedling vigour (mean seedling length), and the concentrations of the glutathione (GSH) / glutathione disulphide (GSSG) redox couple were recorded over time. As controlled-aged seeds lost viability, GSH levels declined and the relative proportion of GSSG contributing to total glutathione increased, indicative of a failing antioxidant capacity. Subjecting seeds that were aged under controlled conditions to a wet-dry cycle (to -1 MPa) prevented viability loss and increased GSH levels. Field-aged seeds that underwent numerous wet-dry cycles due to natural rainfall maintained high viability and high GSH levels. Thus wet-dry cycles in the field may enhance seed longevity and persistence coincident with re-synthesis of protective compounds such as GSH