Abstract:

The world has not reached a consensus or law to regulate the sale of cosmetic and weight loss products from sources other than pharmacies. We connected knowledge and awareness of weight loss and dermatologic products among the public and factors associated with purchase.  This was a retrospective study based on an online questionnaire from March to May-2022 in Palestine.  This study involved 151 subjects, 80 % females, aged 18-59 years. Approximately 73 % of subjects used either weight loss products or cosmetic products. There was a significant relationship between the source of product acquisition and exposure to side effects (p= 0.013). Approximately, 51.7% of participants bought a product after a recommendation from another customer. The way you first know about the product how significantly affects the source of acquisition (p=0.000). There was a significant relationship between the duration of use of the product and the outcome according to sex (p=0.024). There was a significant relationship between duration of use of the product and the desired clinical effects (p=0.008). Education level has the highest impact on online purchases. Almost 26.5% of participants rated their experience of buying online badly.