Al-Sayyed HF

Elsahoryi N

Hammad FJ

McGrattan AM

Odeh MM

Background: Obesity is one of the most serious problems worldwide. Using anti-obesity medications have gained growing interest among adults as a shortcut for bodyweight management practice. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, knowledge, usage determinants, intake pattern and experienced effects of anti-obesity medications, licensed and unlicensed, among university students in Jordan. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured web-based questionnaire. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used. Results: 418 students with a mean age of 21.5 responded to the questionnaire. The prevalence of anti-obesity medication intake was 11%. The majority (67.2%) had scored poor knowledge regarding these medications. The intake patterns indicated that 78.3% of the consumers were self-administrated without prescription and 76.1% of the consumers used licensed type. Despite being perceived as useful in weight reduction, vomiting, and nausea, were very common adverse events (65.2%). Besides being obese, students with excellent knowledge demonstrated higher odds (OR=24.38 (95%CI: 8.12-73.19) and 10.48 (95%CI: 4.03-27.26), respectively) for medication consumption compared with other, p &lt; 0.0005.Conclusion: Using anti-obesity medications among university students is of concern, particularly due to using unlicensed types and the lack of clinical prescription. With the reported poor knowledge, it becomes crucial to launching awareness campaigns and tailored programs for this age group and the general population

Using of licensed and unlicensed anti-obesity medications among the university students

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