Antibiotic self-medication, which refers to acquisition and using antibiotics to treat infections based on personal experience and/or without a doctor’s advice or prescription, is a significant public health issue jeopardizing patient health outcomes. The purpose of the present cross-sectional online survey was to assess the frequency of self-medication among the general public in various geographical locations in southern Jordan, as well as to examine the determinants to self-medication. The survey was distributed through several social media networks over the period November–December 2022, and included demographic information as well as items related to the use and abuse of antibiotics, information sources about antibiotics, the duration of use of antibiotics, and assessment of the public knowledge about appropriate antibiotic use. Inferential analysis, such as the Chi-Square test and logistic regression, were adopted to assess the associations between the different variables with self-medication. A total of 984 respondents were enrolled in the study. Of these, 752 had been using antibiotics during the last year. However, the self-medicating cases were 413 of the 752. The main source of information about the utilization of antibiotics among participants in the survey was pharmacists. The participants commonly (36.0%) tended to use antibiotics until the symptoms disappeared. Nearly half of the respondents reported usually taking antibiotics for treating a runny nose (rhinorrhea). The logistic regression analysis indicated that self-medication with antibiotics was significantly associated with female gender (p-value < 0.001), low educational level (p-value = 0.014), rural living location (p-value 0.003), no health insurance (p-value = 0.001) and occupation (p-value = 0.005). Meanwhile age had no significant relationship to self-medication. Finally, the results revealed poor understanding of key appropriate antibiotic usage, which inevitably influences self-medication practice. It is crucial to come up with several programs and governmental policies to suppress widespread antibiotic self-medication as it will affect the health of future generations of Jordanian citizens.

Background: Improper storage and disposal of unused medications in households raise global concerns due to environmental, health, and animal welfare impacts. Objectives: This study aims to investigate medication storage and disposal practices in southern Jordan while identifying socio-demographic factors contributing to household medicines' storage and evaluating the level of knowledge regarding medicines disposal. Methods: Between January and July 2023, a cross-sectional study was conducted in southern Jordan. In the current study, an online questionnaire was designed based on a comprehensive review of relevant literature. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software. The Chi-Square test and logistic regression were employed to assess the relationships between socio-demographic factors and the storage of medications. Results: All participants stored unused medications at home, with 43.4% expired. The primary reason for storage, cited by 49.8% of respondents, was the anticipation of future use. Analgesics were the most commonly stored type and kept in kitchens and bathrooms. Logistic regression analysis revealed significant links between storage practices and socio-demographic factors such as age group more than 61 (p-value <0.001 ), Illiterate (p-value = 0.006), large family size (p-value = 0.012), no health insurance (p-value <0.001), and high income (p-value = 0.027), with gender having no significant effect. Half of the participants throwing medications in the garbage The Pharmacists played a pivotal role as the primary source of information on medication disposal, yet there was a lack of knowledge concerning the consequences of improper disposal. Conclusion: The prevalence of storage of unused medications and improper disposal was high in southern Jordan. This study underscores the necessity for government policies regulating medicine dispensing to ensure appropriate quantities and reduce excess household storage. Furthermore, public awareness campaigns should educate individuals on safe disposal methods for unused medications at home and assist in mitigating associated risks.

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) into the pharmaceutical sector in Jordan remains limited. This study aimed to measure and analyze changes in pharmacists’ attitudes after the implementation of a targeted educational intervention designed to reduce resistance to AI technology. The study comprised two phases: Phase I, a cross-sectional survey ( N = 901), and Phase II, a one-group pretest–posttest design ( N = 301). Although 75.1% ( n = 677) of the 901 pharmacists reported familiarity with AI, only 41.7% ( n = 376) of the total cohort reported actively using AI. The Phase I results identified the factors significantly associated with technology use as graduation after 2020 (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.943, p < 0.001), having a postgraduate degree (AOR = 2.402, p = 0.002), and the availability of digital infrastructure in the workplace (AOR = 2.099, p = 0.003). The Phase II intervention results showed a significant immediate reduction in the self-reported fear of job replacement (−45.4%), whereas beliefs regarding the need for human oversight remained essentially unchanged ( p = 0.324). The digital divide among Jordanian pharmacists may be more strongly associated with technological friction—specifically, a lack of digital infrastructure—than with merely generational resistance. However, further research is needed to determine whether these short-term attitudinal shifts translate into long-term changes in practice.