2026-10-12T19:02:59Z
https://api.figshare.com/v2/oai
oai:figshare.com:article/33811069
2026-09-15T17:36:07Z
category_7
category_19
category_21
category_64
category_106
category_132
category_134
portal_5
item_type_3
month_year_09_2026
<p>Anonymized minimal dataset.</p>
Mohammad Al-magableh (24948379)
Abdulrhman H.M. Muhaisen (24948382)
Rama M. Ateir (24948385)
Shatha A. Abu_Eraq (24948388)
Hanan O. Hamed (24948391)
Sama M. Al Atoum (24948394)
Reem Bani Amer (24948397)
Soha S. AlShirah (24948400)
Medicine
Pharmacology
Biotechnology
Cancer
Science Policy
Infectious Diseases
Virology
preferring combined therapy
multinomial logistic regression
64 &# 8211
45 &# 8211
39 &# 8211
27 &# 8211
797 undergraduate students
adjusted odds ratios
continuing herbal remedies
42 &# 8211
manage common cold
line treatment choice
jordan among 1
assess treatment preferences
day treatment initiation
treatment initiation
line choice
treatment beliefs
initiated treatment
lower odds
higher odds
xlink ">
rational self
prescribed treatments
pharmaceutical treatments
personal experience
four outcomes
field students
female participants
descriptive statistics
conventional medicine
confidence intervals
common first
combining herbal
16 april
<div>
<p>Background</p><p>University students frequently self-manage common cold and influenza symptoms using herbal remedies, pharmaceutical treatments, or both. However, evidence regarding treatment preferences among Jordanian university students remains limited.</p>
<p>Objective</p><p>To assess treatment preferences and factors associated with four outcomes: first-line treatment choice, timing of treatment initiation, response to perceived herbal treatment failure, and medication-obtaining behavior.</p>
<p>Methods</p><p>An observational cross-sectional study was conducted in Jordan among 1,797 undergraduate students from 16 April to 16 September 2025 using a confidential, de-identified Arabic online questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression were used to evaluate the four outcomes. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were reported.</p>
<p>Results</p><p>Combined therapy was the most common first-line choice (44.5%), and 42.5% initiated treatment on the same day. Female participants had higher odds of preferring combined therapy than males (aOR = 2.55, 95% CI: 1.64–3.96; p < 0.001), whereas medical-field students had lower odds of same-day treatment initiation (aOR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.42–0.72; p < 0.001). After perceived herbal treatment failure, 50.7% switched to pharmaceutical treatments; reliance on doctor-prescribed treatments was associated with lower odds of continuing herbal remedies (aOR = 0.38, 95% CI: 0.27–0.51; p < 0.001) or combining herbal and pharmaceutical treatments (aOR = 0.56, 95% CI: 0.45–0.70; p < 0.001). Regarding medication-obtaining behavior, 28.2% purchased pharmaceutical treatments without a prescription based on personal experience, and medical-field students had higher odds of this behavior (aOR = 1.76, 95% CI: 1.39–2.23; p < 0.001).</p>
<p>Conclusions</p><p>Treatment decisions reflected frequent combined self-care and were associated with sex, field of study, symptoms, prescription-related behavior, and treatment beliefs. Targeted health education may support more informed and rational self-care among university students.</p></div>
2026-09-15T17:35:58Z
Dataset
Dataset
10.1371/journal.pone.0358179.s007
https://figshare.com/articles/dataset/_p_Anonymized_minimal_dataset_p_/33811069
CC BY 4.0