{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,24]],"date-time":"2026-07-24T06:54:16Z","timestamp":1784876056875,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"15","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,23]],"date-time":"2021-07-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1626998400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>The misuse of medicines is a global public health concern that needs to be taken into consideration and requires actions across all government sectors and society. The aim of this study is to identify trends of drug abuse in Catalonia, a region of Spain located in the South of Europe. For this purpose, a questionnaire-based detection tool was created and implemented in 60 community pharmacies. Out of 548 questionnaires (98.4%), 64.2% of participants were men and the highest age proportion was 25\u201335 years (31.4%). Potential drug abuse was the highest in urban pharmacies (84.9%). The main drug class involved were benzodiazepines (31.8%), codeine (19.3%), tramadol (7.5%), methylphenidate (5.8%), gabapentinoids (5.8%), cycloplegic drops (4.4%), z-drugs (2.6%), piracetam (2.2%), dextromethorphan (1.6%) and clomethiazole (1.1%). The majority of drugs were requested without prescription (58.6%) and through probably forged prescriptions (23.7%). Slightly less than half (49.8%) of the patients request frequently to the pharmacist, especially in rural and mountain pharmacies (73.3% and 88.5%, respectively). A small proportion (10.8%) were requested with intimidation. Pharmacists only supplied in 21.7% of the cases. This study has demonstrated the suitability of the new detection system, being a useful approach to replicate in other locations with similar needs.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph18157818","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,23]],"date-time":"2021-07-23T10:31:44Z","timestamp":1627036304000},"page":"7818","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Evaluation of Medicine Abuse Trends in Community Pharmacies: The Medicine Abuse Observatory (MAO) in a Region of Southern Europe"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3919-686X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria","family":"Perell\u00f3","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Barcelona College of Pharmacists, 08009 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Physiology Section, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5039-3506","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Karla","family":"Rio-Aige","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Section, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Institute of Research in Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA), 08921 Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rafel","family":"Guayta-Escolies","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Ramon Llull University, 08025 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3036-3753","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Pilar","family":"Gasc\u00f3n","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Blanquerna School of Health Sciences, Ramon Llull University, 08025 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pilar","family":"Rius","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Council of the Pharmacist\u2019s Association of Catalonia, 08009 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8030-4386","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna M.","family":"Jambrina","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Section, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Directorate-General for Healthcare Planning and Regulation, Ministry of Health, Government of Catalonia, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guillermo","family":"Bagaria","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Barcelona College of Pharmacists, 08009 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Council of the Pharmacist\u2019s Association of Catalonia, 08009 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Merc\u00e8","family":"Armelles","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Directorate-General for Healthcare Planning and Regulation, Ministry of Health, Government of Catalonia, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6243-9164","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Francisco Jos\u00e9","family":"P\u00e9rez-Cano","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Section, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Institute of Research in Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA), 08921 Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9458-1322","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Manel","family":"Rabanal","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Physiology Section, Department of Biochemistry and Physiology, Faculty of Pharmacy and Food Science, University of Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Institute of Research in Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA), 08921 Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Spain"},{"name":"Directorate-General for Healthcare Planning and Regulation, Ministry of Health, Government of Catalonia, 08028 Barcelona, Spain"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,7,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"NIDA (2017, January 08). 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