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Comparative Study
. 2010 Aug 8:11:58.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2296-11-58.

Self-medication with antibiotics in rural population in Greece: a cross-sectional multicenter study

Eystathios Skliros  1 , Panagiotis Merkouris, Athanasia Papazafiropoulou, Aristofanis Gikas, George Matzouranis, Christos Papafragos, Ioannis Tsakanikas, Irene Zarbala, Alexios Vasibosis, Petroula Stamataki, Alexios Sotiropoulos
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Self-medication with antibiotics in rural population in Greece: a cross-sectional multicenter study

Eystathios Skliros et al. BMC Fam Pract. .

Abstract

Background: Self-medication is an important driver of antimicrobial overuse as well as a worldwide problem. The aim of the present study was to estimate the use of antibiotics, without medical prescription, in a sample of rural population presenting in primary care in southern Greece.

Methods: The study included data from 1,139 randomly selected adults (545 men/594 women, mean age +/- SD: 56.2 +/- 19.8 years), who visited the 6 rural Health Centres of southern Greece, between November 2009 and January 2010. The eligible participants were sought out on a one-to-one basis and asked to answer an anonymous questionnaire.

Results: Use of antibiotics within the past 12 months was reported by 888 participants (77.9%). 508 individuals (44.6%) reported that they had received antibiotics without medical prescription at least one time. The major source of self-medication was the pharmacy without prescription (76.2%). The antibiotics most frequently used for self-medication were amoxicillin (18.3%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (15.4%), cefaclor (9.7%), cefuroxim (7.9%), cefprozil (4.7%) and ciprofloxacin (2.3%). Fever (41.2%), common cold (32.0%) and sore throat (20.6%) were the most frequent indications for the use of self-medicated antibiotics.

Conclusion: In Greece, despite the open and rapid access to primary care services, it appears that a high proportion of rural adult population use antibiotics without medical prescription preferably for fever and common cold.

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