Awareness of corticosteroids’ side effects among attendees in King Fahad Specialist Hospital, Buraydah city, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background: Corticosteroids “steroids” are anti-inflammatory drugs prescribed to reduce inflammation and suppress the immune system in many conditions such as asthma, allergic rhinitis, systemic lupus erythematosus, urticaria, inflammatory bowel diseases, inflamed joints. Steroids are one of the most widely prescribed drugs. Despite its severe side effects, only a few studies have been reported the severity of the problem and the awareness of the patients in Saudi Arabia. This study primarily is focused on assessing understanding for corticosteroid users or non-user about corticosteroids’ adverse effects with different usage of dosage forms among attendees in King Fahad Specialist Hospital (KFSH) in Buraydah city. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Convenient sampling was taken from attendees in KFSH in Buraydah city. The sample consisted of users and non-users for the corticosteroids drugs in any form, whether in outpatient or inpatients or visitors. Results: Overall, in our study, we found a low level of awareness among attendees “users and non-users” in KFSH about the adverse effects of corticosteroids, and the awareness of users was higher than non-users. Conclusion: Corticosteroid therapy is essential in clinical practice, yet it can have significant side effects if misused. Overall, we discovered that attendees at KFSH had a poor level of awareness of corticosteroids’ side effects; additionally, users were more aware of side effects than non-users, and the incidence of the disease will increase awareness about side effects. Younger age groups were more aware, and there was minimal variation of understanding in gender.