The Rate of Self-Medication and Its Related Factors in Nursing Students in Behbahan, Southwest of Iran in 2020

Abstract

Background: Today, Self-medication among nursing students against illnesses has become one of the biggest threats to their health, which should be avoided. Considering that the knowledge and attitudes, in this case, lead to less use of drugs without prescribing and teaching nursing students to other people in the community, therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of determining the rate of self-medication and its related factors nursing students in Behbahan in 2020. Methods: In this cross-sectional analytical study, convenient sampling was done in nursing students of Behbahan Faculty of Medical Sciences in 2020. The data collection tools were a demographics information checklist and an approved checklist for self-medication. Data analysis was done with spss-20 software and using the Chi-square test. Results: In this study, 120 students with an average of 24.11 ± 0.87, 41.7% of boys and the rest of the girls, were enrolled. The prevalence of self-medication with antibiotic, cold and cough, analgesic, neurological, gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, anti-psychoactive, opioid and psychedelic, skin, antimicrobial, vitamins and supplements and medicines were 53.3%, 82.5%, 52.5% 3.3%,19.2%, 4.2%, 25.8%, 0.8%, 14.2%, 5.8%, 25.8% and 37% respectively. Females had more analgesic self-medication, more indigenous students than self-medication, and those with less than a weekly walking time had more self-medication and vitamin supplement supplementation (p <0.05). Conclusion: The results indicate a high level of self-care in nursing students and should be considered especially as these future nurses should provide proper education and care to their patients. Also, by providing various strategies such as periodic and free visits to these people, advising them to exercise and providing useful educational workshops about the harm of self-medication will help reduce it. Further studies in this area will help students in the Department of Medicine and the Ministry of Education provide a clear blueprint on the status of self-care in students.