ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pharmacol.
Sec. Pharmacoepidemiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fphar.2025.1484238
Knowledge and Usage Patterns of Clotrimazole Vaginal Cream and Tablet amongst Females: A Cross Sectional Study
Provisionally accepted
- National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Abuja, Nigeria
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Introduction: Clotrimazole is a broad-spectrum antimycotic agent that is primarily used to treat yeast and other fungal infections. Considering the limited number of medicines available for the treatment of vulvovaginal candidiasis, indiscriminate use of clotrimazole is fast emerging as a critical health issue. In Nigeria, where clotrimazole can be obtained without a prescription, there are public health concerns regarding the potential for antimicrobial resistance. This study therefore aimed at assessing the knowledge and usage patterns of clotrimazole amongst females.Methods: A cross-sectional study involving 410 adult females in the Federal Capital Territory was conducted using a validated questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise sociodemographic data, knowledge scores and usage pattern, while inferential statistics (ANOVA and t-test) examined associations between participants’ socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge levels.Results: The study was made up of participants who were aged 18 years and above. Majority of the respondents learned about clotrimazole in the hospital (68.8%) and pharmacy (63.2%). Using bloom’s cut off point, none of the participants had good knowledge of clotrimazole, and only about a quarter of the participants (26.1%) reported average knowledge on the use of the medicine. The overall mean knowledge score was 6.45±2.43 (range 0-14). A concerning 31.7% of users reported using clotrimazole as a contraceptive. There was a statistically significant relationship between the level of education and participants’ knowledge score (p < 0.001). Conclusion: Findings from this study revealed that the participants had poor knowledge regarding clotrimazole use, and poor usage patterns were also observed. Consequences of these emergent findings have serious implications regarding possible resistance to the medicine.
Keywords: Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt Font: (Default) Times New Roman, 12 pt Antimicrobial resistance, Rational drug use, Antifungal, Candidiasis, Yeast infection
Received: 10 Sep 2024; Accepted: 04 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Adigwe, Onavbavba and Okeke. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Obi Peter Adigwe, National Institute for Pharmaceutical Research and Development, Abuja, Nigeria
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