Needle phobia among adult Jordanians: General awareness, prevalence; and exploring microneedles as a promising solution

Abstract

Needle phobia remains a major drawback of conventional injectable medications, leading to avoidance and low adherence among a reasonable portion of patients. Despite this, there is a limited number of studies investigating needle phobia prevalence and symptoms. In this survey, we studied the knowledge and prevalence of needle phobia and its manifestations among 1182 adult Jordanians. Moreover, we assessed the feasibility of microneedles delivery systems as an alternative approach to conventional injectable methods. The results revealed that 28.5% of the participants identified themselves with needle phobia, with a notably higher prevalence among females compared to males (p-value < 0.001). The overall prevalence of needle phobia based on its measured manifestations was found to be 27.4%. The survey also found that 68% of the population were unfamiliar with the concept of microneedles despite the reasonable proportion of the population who were aware of the disadvantages of conventional injectable medications. Furthermore, the survey identified four significant predictors of needle phobia through hierarchical linear regression analysis. Gender, occupation, and negative past experiences with needle injections accounted for 3%, 1%, and 1% of the variance in needle phobia, respectively. In addition, the participants’ preference for microneedles over conventional injectables medications appeared as another significant predictor, contributing 5% of the variance. Overall, the model explained 10% of the variance in needle phobia. Collectively, this study provides an insight into needle phobia prevalence and manifestations in Jordan, while also exploring microneedles as an alternative drug delivery system for patients with needle phobia.