Self-medication Among Students in Southern Iran: Prevalence, Risk Factors, and Attitudes

Background and aims: Self-medication, as the most common method of self-care, is one of the major problems in treatment in many countries in the world. The present study was designed to determine the prevalence of self-medication and identify the factors associated with casual medication use among students of Larestan University of Medical Sciences in Iran in ۲۰۲۰.   Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study conducted in ۲۰۲۰. The study was conducted at Larestan University of Medical Sciences and ۱۴۷ students entered the study through convenience sampling. The data collection tool was a researcher-made self-treatment questionnaire. After collecting the data, the SPSS software version ۲۵.۰ was used to analyze the data. Fisher’s exact test, independent t test, and chi-square test were used to investigate the relationship between the variables. A P value of less than ۰.۰۵ was considered statistically significant.   Results: The prevalence of self-medication was ۶۲.۵%. The most common sources of self-medication were pharmacies and previous prescriptions. The most common illnesses treated with over-the-counter medications include colds, headaches, and digestive problems. The most important over-the-counter medications include painkillers, anti-colds, antibiotics, iron pills, calcium supplements, and antihistamines. A comparison of students’ attitudes towards medication showed that attitudes “I feel my problem has been treated with over-the-counter medications” and “I feel I have enough information about diseases and how to treat them” (the group who did have self-medication and the group who did not have self-medication) had a significant difference between the two groups (p <۰.۰۵).   Conclusion: The results of the present study showed a high prevalence of self-medication among students. We recommend holding special training classes for the communities in order to provide information about the irreparable effects of self-medication and create new policies for prescribing and delivering medicine.

Keywords:

Self-medication , Prescription , Self-Care , Prevalence , Pharmacy