Acceptability and Willingness of UAE Residents to Use OTC Vending Machines to Deliver Self-Testing Kits for COVID-19 and the Implications

Abstract

Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun,1,2 Sabaa Saleh Al hemyari,1,3 Naseem Mohammed Abdulla,2 Moyad Shahwan,4,5 Farah Hashim Jaber Bilal,6,7 Saleh Karamah AL-Tamimi,8 Maimona Jairoun,4 Samer H Zyoud,9 Amanj Kurdi,10– 13 Brian Godman5,10,13 1School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Gelugor, 11800, Malaysia; 2Health and Safety Department, Dubai Municipality, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 3Pharmacy Department, Emirates Health Services, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 4College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, 346, United Arab Emirates; 5Centre of Medical and Bio-allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates; 6Anesthesiology Department, Saint Georges Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon; 7Valiant Hospital, Anesthesiology Department, Dubai, United Arab Emirates; 8Faculty of Pharmacy, Aden University, Aden, Yemen; 9Nonlinear Dynamics Research Center (NDRC), Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates; 10Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science (SIPBS), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK; 11Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region Government, Iraq; 12Center of Research and Strategic Studies, Lebanese French University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region Government, Iraq; 13Division of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South AfricaCorrespondence: Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun, Moyad Shahwan, Tel [phone], Email [email protected]; [email protected]: Self-testing kits for SARS-CoV-2 appear effective, practical, safe and reliable as well as helping patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms to be successfully managed at home without going to hospital. As a result, ease pressures on hospitals. OTC vending machines offer the potential for SARS-CoV-2 self-testing kits alongside making available OTC treatments to alleviate the symptoms of COVID-19. As a result, providing confidentiality alongside ease of use in case people do not want their status broad casted. Consequently, there was a need to assess the acceptability and willingness regarding the availability of OTC vending machines to dispense self-testing kits for SARS-CoV-2 among UAE residents to provide future direction.Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional survey using a designed questionnaire was based on previous research and expert input and pilot tested. All items in the final questionnaire were seen as acceptable with a satisfactory content validity. A purposive sampling strategy was used in the principal study by primarily sending a link to the questionnaire to UAE universities via Facebook and WhatsApp.Results: A total of 876 respondents participated in the study and completed the whole questionnaire. Most participants were female (63%), Arabic origin (42%) and holding a bachelor’s degree (84.5%). There was high acceptability and willingness to use self-testing kits (87.2%), with 88.6% of respondents believing OTC vending machines would be beneficial for patients with actual or suspected SARS-CoV-2. Gender, nationality, educational level, employment status, having relatives infected with SARS-CoV-2 and being vaccinated were significantly associated with attitudes towards the self-testing kits. Recognised barriers include their potential costs, ease of access and help for those who cannot read the instructions.Conclusion: Overall, there was high acceptability and willingness to use OTC vending machines to deliver self-testing kits for SARS-CoV-2 among the surveyed participants. Key barriers will need to be addressed to enhance their use.Keywords: SARS-CoV-2, self-testing kits, attitudes, public acceptability and willingness, UAE

Keywords

• sars-cov-2
• self-testing kits
• attitudes
• public acceptability and willingness
• uae