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

Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun; Sabaa Saleh Al Hemyari; Naseem Mohammed Abdulla; Moyad Shahwan; Farah Hashim Jaber Bilal; Saleh Karamah Al-Tamimi; Maimona Jairoun; Samer H Zyoud; Amanj Kurdi; Brian Godman

doi:10.2147/JMDH.S370441

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

J Multidiscip Healthc. 2022 Aug 23:15:1759-1770. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S370441. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Ammar Abdulrahman Jairoun^{1

2}, Sabaa Saleh Al Hemyari^{1

3}, Naseem Mohammed Abdulla², Moyad Shahwan^{4

5}, Farah Hashim Jaber Bilal^{6

7}, Saleh Karamah Al-Tamimi⁸, Maimona Jairoun⁴, Samer H Zyoud⁹, Amanj Kurdi^{10

11

12

13}, Brian Godman^{5

10

13}

Affiliations

¹ School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Pulau Pinang, Gelugor, 11800, Malaysia.
² Health and Safety Department, Dubai Municipality, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
³ Pharmacy Department, Emirates Health Services, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
⁴ College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, 346, United Arab Emirates.
⁵ Centre of Medical and Bio-allied Health Sciences Research, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
⁶ Anesthesiology Department, Saint Georges Hospital, Beirut, Lebanon.
⁷ Valiant Hospital, Anesthesiology Department, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
⁸ Faculty of Pharmacy, Aden University, Aden, Yemen.
⁹ Nonlinear Dynamics Research Center (NDRC), Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates.
¹⁰ Department of Pharmacoepidemiology, Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Science (SIPBS), University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK.
¹¹ Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Pharmacy, Hawler Medical University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region Government, Iraq.
¹² Center of Research and Strategic Studies, Lebanese French University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region Government, Iraq.
¹³ Division of Public Health Pharmacy and Management, School of Pharmacy, Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa.

Abstract

Purpose: 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; UAE; attitudes; public acceptability and willingness; self-testing kits.

Grants and funding

No funding was given for this study nor to assist in the preparation of the manuscript.