Self-medication practices in Ethiopia: An umbrella review protocol

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0300131

. 2025 Feb 27;20(2):e0300131.

doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300131. eCollection 2025.

Self-medication practices in Ethiopia: An umbrella review protocol

Getahun Fetensa^{1

2

3}, Eshetu Ejeta⁴, Tariku Tesfaye Bekuma^{5

6}, Feyiso Bati⁵, Edosa Amante⁷, Jaleta Bulti², Saro Abdella², Yosef Gebreyohannes^{1

3

7}, Sabit Ababor^{1

3

7}, Abera Botore⁸, Dabesa Gobena⁸, Mirkuzie Woldie^{3

9}, Minyahil Tadesse Boltena^{10

11}, Tadesse Tolossa^{6

12}, Tafese Dejene¹³, Zewdie Birhanu^{1

3}, Moranker Sudakar¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Behavior and Society, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Jimma Medical Center, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
² Ethiopian Public Health Institute Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
³ Center for Evidence-synthesis, Support, and Development in Africa (CESDA), PLC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Public Health, College of Medical and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia.
⁵ Department of Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Department of Population and Family Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
⁶ Department of Public Health, Institutes of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia.
⁷ Knowledge Translation Directorate, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁸ Public Health Emergency Management and Health Research Directorate, Oromia Health Bureau, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁹ Fenot Project, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
¹⁰ Ethiopian Evidence Based Health Care Centre: A Joanna Briggs Institute Center of Excellence, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
¹¹ Knowledge Translation Division, Knowledge Management Directorate, Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
¹² Deakin University, Deakin Health Economics, School of Health and Social Development, Institute for Health Transformation, Geelong, Australia.
¹³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dire Dawa University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

PMID: 40014598
PMCID: PMC11867381
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300131

Self-medication practices in Ethiopia: An umbrella review protocol

Getahun Fetensa et al. PLoS One. 2025.

. 2025 Feb 27;20(2):e0300131.

doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300131. eCollection 2025.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Behavior and Society, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Jimma Medical Center, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
² Ethiopian Public Health Institute Addis Ababa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
³ Center for Evidence-synthesis, Support, and Development in Africa (CESDA), PLC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁴ Department of Public Health, College of Medical and Health Sciences, Ambo University, Ambo, Ethiopia.
⁵ Department of Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Department of Population and Family Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
⁶ Department of Public Health, Institutes of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia.
⁷ Knowledge Translation Directorate, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁸ Public Health Emergency Management and Health Research Directorate, Oromia Health Bureau, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
⁹ Fenot Project, School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
¹⁰ Ethiopian Evidence Based Health Care Centre: A Joanna Briggs Institute Center of Excellence, Faculty of Public Health, Institute of Health, Jimma University, Jimma, Ethiopia.
¹¹ Knowledge Translation Division, Knowledge Management Directorate, Armauer Hansen Research Institute, Ministry of Health, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
¹² Deakin University, Deakin Health Economics, School of Health and Social Development, Institute for Health Transformation, Geelong, Australia.
¹³ Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dire Dawa University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia.

PMID: 40014598
PMCID: PMC11867381
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300131

Abstract

Background: Self-medication is the practice of obtaining and using drugs without proper guidance or supervision. It can involve various behaviours that may harm individuals and society. Self-medication can cause serious health and economic problems for countries and healthcare systems. Therefore, current review aimed at examining self-medication practices in Ethiopia.

Methods: This umbrella review will consider all systematic reviews that include self-medication practices of adult age greater than 18 years in Ethiopia. Study protocols, papers other than systematic reviews, papers not reporting on self-medication practices, and papers published in languages other than English will be excluded from the review. MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews will be searched. Two reviewers will screen the titles and abstracts against the eligibility criteria. Data extraction will be performed by 2 independent reviewers on the reviews selected for inclusion. The characteristics of studies like author name, year published, databases searched, number of studies/patients included, and self-medication practices will be extracted. The quality of included studies will be reported using the JBI critical appraisal checklist for systematic reviews and research syntheses. A summary of the extracted data will be presented in tabular format and a narrative synthesis will be performed on the collected systematic reviews that meet the inclusion criteria.

Discussion: This protocol is expected to bring pooled evidence on self-medication practice among different population groups like pregnant mothers, adult population, students, and general population. Evidence from this review will be used to tackle current global problem related with anti-microbial resistance. Therefore, our review will call for government and non-government interventions in reducing current challenge of global issue related with anti-microbial resistance in resource limited country like Ethiopia.

Systematic review registration number: PROSPERO CRD42023182552.

Copyright: © 2025 Fetensa et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

1. Baracaldo-Santamaría D, Trujillo-Moreno MJ, Pérez-Acosta AM, Feliciano-Alfonso JE, Calderon-Ospina C-A, Soler F. Definition of self-medication: a scoping review. Ther Adv Drug Saf. 2022;13:20420986221127501. doi: 10.1177/20420986221127501 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
1. Atia A. Epidemiology of self-medication practice among Libyans: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Preprints. 2020;(June):1–9. Available from: https://search.proquest.com/working-papers/epidemiology-self-medication-...
1. Studies M. Global scenario of self medication: a review of literature. Indian J Commer Manag Stud. 2018;IX(1):99–107.
1. Ghasemyani S, Benis M, Hosseinifard H, Jahangiri R, Aryankhesal A, Shabaninejad H. Global, WHO regional, and continental prevalence of self-medication from 2000 to 2018: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Public Health. 2022;1(April).
1. Fetensa G, Tolossa T, Etafa W, Fekadu G. Prevalence and predictors of self-medication among university students in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Pharm Policy Pract. 2021:1–15. - PMC - PubMed

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[1] Baracaldo-Santamaría D, Trujillo-Moreno MJ, Pérez-Acosta AM, Feliciano-Alfonso JE, Calderon-Ospina C-A, Soler F. Definition of self-medication: a scoping review. Ther Adv Drug Saf. 2022;13:20420986221127501. doi: 10.1177/20420986221127501 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[2] Baracaldo-Santamaría D, Trujillo-Moreno MJ, Pérez-Acosta AM, Feliciano-Alfonso JE, Calderon-Ospina C-A, Soler F. Definition of self-medication: a scoping review. Ther Adv Drug Saf. 2022;13:20420986221127501. doi: 10.1177/20420986221127501 - DOI - PMC - PubMed

[3] Atia A. Epidemiology of self-medication practice among Libyans: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Preprints. 2020;(June):1–9. Available from: https://search.proquest.com/working-papers/epidemiology-self-medication-...

[4] Atia A. Epidemiology of self-medication practice among Libyans: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Preprints. 2020;(June):1–9. Available from: https://search.proquest.com/working-papers/epidemiology-self-medication-...

[5] Studies M. Global scenario of self medication: a review of literature. Indian J Commer Manag Stud. 2018;IX(1):99–107.

[6] Studies M. Global scenario of self medication: a review of literature. Indian J Commer Manag Stud. 2018;IX(1):99–107.

[7] Ghasemyani S, Benis M, Hosseinifard H, Jahangiri R, Aryankhesal A, Shabaninejad H. Global, WHO regional, and continental prevalence of self-medication from 2000 to 2018: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Public Health. 2022;1(April).

[8] Ghasemyani S, Benis M, Hosseinifard H, Jahangiri R, Aryankhesal A, Shabaninejad H. Global, WHO regional, and continental prevalence of self-medication from 2000 to 2018: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Ann Public Health. 2022;1(April).

[9] Fetensa G, Tolossa T, Etafa W, Fekadu G. Prevalence and predictors of self-medication among university students in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Pharm Policy Pract. 2021:1–15. - PMC - PubMed

[10] Fetensa G, Tolossa T, Etafa W, Fekadu G. Prevalence and predictors of self-medication among university students in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. J Pharm Policy Pract. 2021:1–15. - PMC - PubMed

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Self-medication practices in Ethiopia: An umbrella review protocol

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Self-medication practices in Ethiopia: An umbrella review protocol

Authors

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Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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