Abstract
Antibiotics are essential treatments, especially in the developing world like World Health Organization (WHO) Southeast Asian region where infectious diseases are still the most common cause of death. In this part of the world, antibiotics are purchased and used without the prescription of a physician. Self-medication of antibiotics is associated with the risk of inappropriate drug use, which predisposes patients to drug interactions, masking symptoms of an underlying disease, and development of microbial resistance. Antibiotic resistance is shrinking the range of effective antibiotics and is a global health problem. The appearance of multidrug-resistant bacterial strains, which are highly resistant to many antibiotic classes, has raised a major concern regarding antibiotic resistance worldwide. Even after decades of economic growth and development in countries that belong to the WHO Southeast Asian region, most of the countries in this region still have a high burden of infectious diseases. The magnitude and consequence of self-medication with antibiotics is unknown in this region. There is a need for evidence from well-designed studies on community use of antibiotics in these settings to help in planning and implementing specific strategies and interventions to prevent their irrational use and consequently to reduce the spread of antibiotic resistance. To quantify the frequency and effect of self-medication with antibiotics, we did a systematic review of published work from the Southeast Asian region.
Highlights
BackgroundAntibiotics are among the most commonly purchased drugs worldwide [1]
The search terms, viz. antimicrobial, antibiotics, antibacterial, self-medication, and non-prescription combined with the name of countries that belong to the World Health Organization (WHO) SEAR, were used
Studies published in the English language were included in the review if they aimed to assess self-medication of antibiotics in countries that belong to WHO SEAR
Summary
Antibiotics are among the most commonly purchased drugs worldwide [1]. They are essential treatments, especially in the developing world where infectious diseases are still the most common cause of death [2]. Self-medication refers to the use of medicines to treat selfdiagnosed disorders without consulting a medical practitioner and without any medical supervision [3]. It is a form of healthcare practiced in most parts of the world and overall 50% of total antibiotics used are purchased over-the-counter [4,5]. Repercussions of self-medication with antibiotics leading to health hazards, in the developing world, are multifaceted as they are linked to poverty, inaccessibility, lack of medical professionals, poor quality of healthcare facilities, unregulated distribution of medicines, and patients’ misconceptions about physicians [6,7].
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