{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,27]],"date-time":"2026-02-27T16:49:35Z","timestamp":1772210975704,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,7]],"date-time":"2021-05-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1620345600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) are considered one of the most important birth control methods globally. However, these pills were designed for female administration rather than males. This study was designed to investigate patterns of OCPs use and abuse among Jordanian males, according to the community pharmacists\u2019 observations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A mixed-method explanatory sequential study was conducted using an online self-administered survey, followed by semi-structured in-depth interviews for registered pharmacists, assistant pharmacists and pharmacy interns. The interviews were utilized using a conceptual framework. Inductive thematic analysis and descriptive\/regression analyses were completed using Nvivo and SPSS, respectively.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A total of 158 questionnaire responses and 22 interviews were included in our analysis. Around half (48.4%) of the questionnaire responses confirmed that males could use OCPs for hair growth enhancement, muscle gain and acne treatment 12.7%, 31.7% and 4.4%, respectively. Through the interviews, the participating pharmacists highlighted that males use OCPs mostly for bodybuilding purposes, according to recommendations by their coaches at the gym. The most abused OCPs containing estrogen (Ethinyl estradiol) and progestins (Drospirenone or Levonorgestrel).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study provided insight into unexpected uses of OCPs by males in Jordan. Community pharmacists have a crucial role in the management of OCPs use and abuse. However, restricted regulations and monitoring must be released and implemented on the community to limit such practices.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0251302","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,7]],"date-time":"2021-05-07T14:37:04Z","timestamp":1620398224000},"page":"e0251302","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Knowledge and beliefs about the use\/abuse of oral contraceptive pills among males: A mixed-method explanatory sequential study in community pharmacy settings"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7966-1172","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Muna","family":"Barakat","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Raja\u2019a","family":"Al-Qudah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Amal","family":"Akour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mona","family":"Abu-Asal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Samar","family":"Thiab","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yahya H.","family":"Dallal Bashi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0251302.ref001","unstructured":"WHO. Abuse (drug, alcohol, chemical, substance or psychoactive substance) 2016. Available from: https:\/\/www.who.int\/substance_abuse\/terminology\/abuse\/en\/."},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0251302.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"41","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pop.2010.11.004","article-title":"Stimulant abuse: pharmacology, cocaine, methamphetamine, treatment, attempts at pharmacotherapy","volume":"38","author":"D Ciccarone","year":"2011","journal-title":"Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref003","first-page":"391","volume-title":"Contemporary Security Management","author":"JJ Fay","year":"2018","edition":"4"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0251302.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1487","DOI":"10.2165\/11898640-000000000-00000","article-title":"Laxative abuse","volume":"70","author":"JL Roerig","year":"2010","journal-title":"Drugs"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref005","author":"K Daniels","year":"2014","journal-title":"Current contraceptive status among women aged 15\u201344: United States, 2011\u20132013: US Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and \u2026"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref006","author":"DB Cooper","year":"2019","journal-title":"Oral contraceptive pills"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0251302.ref007","first-page":"41","article-title":"Non-contraceptive benefits of oral hormonal contraceptives","volume":"11","author":"AE Schindler","year":"2013","journal-title":"International journal of endocrinology and metabolism"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref008","author":"K Kirkpatrick","year":"2015","journal-title":"What if a man takes birth control pills?"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0251302.ref009","first-page":"117","volume":"15","author":"SK Bardaweel","year":"2015","journal-title":"Current knowledge, attitude, and patterns of oral contraceptives utilization among women in Jordan"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0251302.ref010","first-page":"109","volume":"52","author":"S Kridli","year":"2005","journal-title":"Jordanian married Muslim women\u2019s intentions to use oral contraceptives"},{"issue":"9","key":"pone.0251302.ref011","first-page":"1319","volume":"45","author":"A Albsoul-Younes","year":"2010","journal-title":"Abuse and misuse of prescription and nonprescription drugs sold in community pharmacies in Jordan"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0251302.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e0244373","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0244373","article-title":"Unforeseen uses of oral contraceptive pills: Exploratory study in Jordanian community pharmacies","volume":"15","author":"M Barakat","year":"2020","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"issue":"7451","key":"pone.0251302.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1312","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj.328.7451.1312","article-title":"Selecting, designing, and developing your questionnaire","volume":"328","author":"PM Boynton","year":"2004","journal-title":"Bmj"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref014","volume-title":"Using multivariate statistics","author":"BG Tabachnick","year":"2007"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref015","first-page":"197","author":"SJ Bahr","year":"2016","journal-title":"society. Social scientific theories of drug use, abuse, and addiction"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0251302.ref016","first-page":"435","volume":"25","author":"LMJMN Connelly","year":"2016","journal-title":"Trustworthiness in qualitative research"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref017","unstructured":"Kanayama G, Pope HG, Jr. Illicit use of androgens and other hormones: recent advances. (1752\u20132978 (Electronic))."},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0251302.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"185","DOI":"10.1097\/MED.0000000000000403","article-title":"Androgen abuse epidemiology","volume":"25","author":"D Sagoe","year":"2018","journal-title":"Current opinion in endocrinology, diabetes, and obesity"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1251","DOI":"10.1007\/978-3-319-44441-3_44","volume-title":"Endocrinology of the Testis and Male Reproduction","author":"DJ Handelsman","year":"2017"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0251302.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1521-0391.2010.00093.x","article-title":"Human growth hormone abuse in male weightlifters","volume":"20","author":"BP Brennan","year":"2011","journal-title":"The American journal on addictions"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0251302.ref021","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"423","DOI":"10.1210\/jc.2018-01452","article-title":"Effects of 28 Days of Oral Dimethandrolone Undecanoate in Healthy Men: A Prototype Male Pill","volume":"104","author":"A Thirumalai","year":"2019","journal-title":"The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0251302.ref022","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"661","DOI":"10.1093\/eurpub\/ckn062","article-title":"Prevalence and risk factors for anabolic-androgenic steroid abuse among Jordanian collegiate students and athletes","volume":"18","author":"LH Tahtamouni","year":"2008","journal-title":"European journal of public health"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref023","first-page":"1512","author":"SD Althobiti","journal-title":"Prevalence, Attitude, Knowledge, and Practice of Anabolic Androgenic Steroid (AAS) Use Among Gym Participants"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0251302.ref024","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"289","DOI":"10.21767\/AMJ.2018.3305","article-title":"Prevalence and practice of oestrogen use among the male gym participants","volume":"11","author":"T Alharthi","year":"2018","journal-title":"Australasian Medical Journal"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0251302.ref025","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"72","DOI":"10.1186\/s12905-019-0770-x","article-title":"Oral contraceptive and breast cancer: do benefits outweigh the risks? A case\u2014control study from Jordan","volume":"19","author":"SK Bardaweel","year":"2019","journal-title":"BMC Womens Health"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref026","unstructured":"The United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Jordan Program Profile 2015 [cited 2020 24th August]. Available from: https:\/\/www.shopsplusproject.org\/sites\/default\/files\/resources\/Jordan%20Program%20Profile_final_print.pdf."},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref027","author":"MA Mahmoud","year":"2018","journal-title":"Community pharmacists perspectives about reasons behind antibiotics dispensing without prescription: a qualitative study"},{"issue":"6","key":"pone.0251302.ref028","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"650","DOI":"10.1016\/j.sapharm.2018.08.003","article-title":"Public perception of pharmacist-prescribed self-administered non-emergency hormonal contraception: An analysis of online social discourse","volume":"15","author":"AN Irwin","year":"2019","journal-title":"Res Social Adm Pharm"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0251302.ref029","article-title":"Pharmacist Outlooks on Prescribing Hormonal Contraception Following Statewide Scope of Practice Expansion","volume":"7","author":"S Rafie","year":"2019","journal-title":"Pharmacy (Basel)"},{"issue":"3","key":"pone.0251302.ref030","first-page":"e001402","volume":"4","author":"CE Kennedy","year":"2019","journal-title":"Should oral contraceptive pills be available without a prescription? A systematic review of over-the-counter and pharmacy access availability"},{"issue":"4","key":"pone.0251302.ref031","first-page":"424","volume":"31","author":"J McIntosh","year":"2011","journal-title":"Changing oral contraceptives from prescription to over\u2010the\u2010counter status: an opinion statement of the Women\u2019s Health Practice and Research Network of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref032","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"123","DOI":"10.1016\/bs.acc.2016.05.003","article-title":"Adulterants in Urine Drug Testing","volume":"76","author":"S Fu","year":"2016","journal-title":"Adv Clin Chem"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0251302.ref033","first-page":"68","article-title":"In vitro and in vivo interaction of oral contraceptive high dose (HD) with urine morphine diagnostic test","volume":"11","author":"V Hajhashemi","year":"2007","journal-title":"J Physiology and Pharmacology"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref034","first-page":"0015","author":"RS Tan","journal-title":"Use of clomiphene citrate to reverse premature andropause secondary to steroid abuse"},{"issue":"5","key":"pone.0251302.ref035","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"953","DOI":"10.1038\/s41366-018-0105-2","article-title":"Effects of clomiphene citrate on male obesity-associated hypogonadism: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study","volume":"42","author":"AH Soares","year":"2018","journal-title":"International journal of obesity"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0251302.ref036","first-page":"62","article-title":"Clomiphene Citrate for Male Hypogonadism and Infertility: An Updated Review","volume":"1","author":"BJ Herzog","year":"2020","journal-title":"Androgens: Clinical Research and Therapeutics"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref037","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"824","DOI":"10.3389\/fphys.2019.00824","article-title":"Influence of Oral Contraceptive Use on Adaptations to Resistance Training","volume":"10","author":"LB Dalgaard","year":"2019","journal-title":"Front Physiol"},{"issue":"10","key":"pone.0251302.ref038","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1005","DOI":"10.1093\/gerona\/gls007","article-title":"Effects of Estrogen Replacement and Lower Androgen Status on Skeletal Muscle Collagen and Myofibrillar Protein Synthesis in Postmenopausal Women","volume":"67","author":"M Hansen","year":"2012","journal-title":"The Journals of Gerontology: Series A"},{"issue":"11","key":"pone.0251302.ref039","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1011","DOI":"10.1056\/NEJMoa1206168","article-title":"Gonadal steroids and body composition, strength, and sexual function in men","volume":"369","author":"JS Finkelstein","year":"2013","journal-title":"The New England journal of medicine"},{"issue":"1","key":"pone.0251302.ref040","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"R23","DOI":"10.1530\/EJE-18-1000","article-title":"Estradiol as a male hormone","volume":"181","author":"N Russell","year":"2019","journal-title":"European Journal of Endocrinology"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref041","author":"DB Cooper","year":"2020","journal-title":"Oral contraceptive pills"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0251302.ref042","first-page":"536","volume":"17","author":"ML Ilardo","year":"2020","journal-title":"The Community Pharmacist: Perceived Barriers and Patient-Centered Care Communication"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref043","author":"C Spooner","year":"2005","journal-title":"Social determinants of drug use: National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales \u2026"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref044","unstructured":"Jordan, Food and Drug Administration (JFDA). List of Non-prescription medications 2018 [cited 2020 24th August]. Available from: http:\/\/www.jfda.jo\/Pages\/viewpage.aspx?pageID=359."},{"issue":"33","key":"pone.0251302.ref045","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e16440","DOI":"10.1097\/MD.0000000000016440","article-title":"A case report of oral contraceptive misuse induced cerebral venous sinus thrombosis and dural arteriovenous fistula","volume":"98","author":"Q Huang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Medicine (Baltimore)"},{"key":"pone.0251302.ref046","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"105924","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ijantimicag.2020.105924","article-title":"Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and corona virus disease-2019 (COVID-19): the epidemic and the challenges","author":"C-C Lai","year":"2020","journal-title":"International journal of antimicrobial agents"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0251302","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,7]],"date-time":"2021-05-07T14:38:17Z","timestamp":1620398297000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0251302"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Tareq","family":"Mukattash","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"editor","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,7]]},"references-count":46,"journal-issue":{"issue":"5","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,7]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0251302","relation":{"has-preprint":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1101\/2021.03.11.21253403","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2021,5,7]]}}}