Abstract
ObjectivesTo determine the factors motivating the consumers towards self-medication, the intended indications and the consumers’ perceptions about complications that may arise due to its use.DesignCross-sectional community based prospective studyPlace and duration of studyCommunity pharmacies located at various locations of Hail, Saudi Arabia from January 2019 to March 2019.MethodsThe subjects of this cross-sectional study were people visiting community pharmacies for self-medication. Data on 663 participants was collected through a validated questionnaire prepared on the basis of WHO guidelines for the regulatory assessment of medicinal products for use in self-medication. Two trained data collectors visited the randomly selected community pharmacies, approached and interviewed the consumers purchasing medicines without prescriptions. Data was entered in SPSS and analyzed using descriptive and inferential analyses (alpha level = 0.05).ResultsOut of 663 respondents, 68.6% were university graduates; and 33.9% were healthcare professionals. Consumers preferred self-medication mainly for headache (85.8%), cold and sore throat (80.8%), cough (75.7%) and fever (71.8%) with the justification that these illnesses were minor (90.2%), time saving (82.2%), convenient (74.7%), quicker relief (66.1%), and economical (61.2%). Occupation was significantly associated with the reasons for preferring self-medication (p<0.001). Similarly, age, gender and education were also significantly associated with most of the reasons for opting self-medication. People were quite aware about harmful consequences of self-medication. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the respondents with lower education (AOR = 2.404 [95% CI: 1.579–3.661]), non-healthcare professionals (AOR = 1.712 [95% CI: 1.143–2.565]) and higher monthly income (AOR = 0.376 [95% CI: 0.236–0.599]) preferred self-medication (p <0.001, p = 0.009, p <0.001) respectively.ConclusionSelf-medication was prevalent among young university graduate males for minor ailments mainly due to convenience and time saving. Despite people beliefs about the harmful consequences of self-medication, its use was omnipresent particularly among the respondents with lower education, non-healthcare professionals and people with higher monthly income.
Highlights
Self-medication (SM) refers to the use of any medication without the prescription of a licensed healthcare practitioner [1]
Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the respondents with lower education (AOR = 2.404 [95% CI: 1.579– 3.661]), non-healthcare professionals (AOR = 1.712 [95% CI: 1.143–2.565]) and higher monthly income (AOR = 0.376 [95% CI: 0.236–0.599]) preferred self-medication (p
The World Health Organization emphasizes the role of self-care, and there are several benefits owing to responsible use of self-medication such as reduction in visits to clinics or hospitals, and economical it could lead to polypharmacy, drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, development of resistance, wastage of money, prolonged suffering and drug dependence due to its irresponsible use [5,6,7]
Summary
Self-medication (SM) refers to the use of any medication without the prescription of a licensed healthcare practitioner [1]. Self-medication is the major reason for the ridiculous use of medicines [4]. Professional healthcare consultation is expensive or not readily available to the public SM becomes an obvious healthcare choice, and it is a routine practice in Saudi Arabia [8, 9]. The private sector pharmacies are the most accessible healthcare facilities in Saudi Arabia and people can purchase most of the medicines without prescription. Literature shows that most of the studies related to self-medication have been conducted among healthcare professionals or students, and there are only few studies concerned with general public of Saudi Arabia [11, 15,16,17]. This study is probably first of its kind in Hail
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