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. 2018 Apr 10;19(1):15.
doi: 10.1186/s40360-018-0205-6.

Self-medication practice and associated factors among adult household members in Meket district, Northeast Ethiopia, 2017

Aster Desalew Kassie  1 , Berhanu Boru Bifftu  2 , Habtamu Sewunet Mekonnen  3
Affiliations

Self-medication practice and associated factors among adult household members in Meket district, Northeast Ethiopia, 2017

Aster Desalew Kassie et al. BMC Pharmacol Toxicol. .

Abstract

Background: Self-medication practice (SMP) is the use of medication without the prescription of health care professionals. The major problems associated with self-medication practice have been drug resistance, drug side effects, wastage of resources, and serious health hazards including death. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of self-medication practice and its associated factors among adult household members in Meket District, Northeast Ethiopia.

Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted among 722 adult household members in Meket District, from April 5 to May 5, 2017. The systematic random sampling method was used to select study participants. A pre-tested, structured questionnaire was used for data collection using an interviewer-administered technique. Epi-info version and SPSS version 22 were utilized for data entry and analysis, respectively. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression was used to identify association factors.

Results: The overall prevalence of self-medication was found to be 35.9%. Unmarried status (AOR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.18, 4.01), previous experience of self-medication (AOR = 1.78, 95% CI = 1.22, 2.61), accessibility of pharmacies (AOR = 3.71, 95% CI = 1.31, 10.51), peer/family pressure (AOR = 2.88, 95% CI = 1.98, 4.18) and presence of medication at home (AOR = 1.80, 95% CI = 1.11, 2.92) were factors associated with self-medication practices.

Conclusion: More than one-third of the study participants practiced self-medication. Thus, strengthening communities awareness on drug side effects and integrated efforts of individuals, communities, health facilities, and regulatory bodies are highly necessary.

Keywords: Adult; Northeast Ethiopia; Self-medication practice.

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Conflict of interest statement

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Ethical approval was obtained from University of Gondar, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, School of Nursing Ethical Review Committee, permission letter with a reference number; N/D/535/07/2009. Support letter was also obtained from Meket district administration office and health office before enrollment. Finally participants were informed about the purpose, method, expected benefit, and risk of the study and for those who agreed, written consent were obtained.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Competing interests

The authors declared that they have no any competing interests.

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Participants complaints for self medication practice, Meket District, Northeast Ethiopia, 2017, (n = 435)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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