A comparative study between prescribed and over-the-counter antibiotics.

Objective: To examine the influence of pharmacists` demographic characteristics on dispensing antibiotics purchased with and without a prescription in the community pharmacies.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 24 randomly-selected community pharmacies located in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates between March and September 2009. Data were collected through a closed-structured questionnaire and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences Version 17.