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A descriptive study of self-medication practices among Palestinian medical and nonmedical university students
Ist Teil von
Research in social and administrative pharmacy, 2008-06, Vol.4 (2), p.164-172
Ort / Verlag
United States: Elsevier Inc
Erscheinungsjahr
2008
Link zum Volltext
Quelle
Elsevier ScienceDirect Journals Complete
Beschreibungen/Notizen
The implications of self-medication practices are increasingly recognized around the world; however, little has been reported on the extent of self-medication practiced in Palestine.
To determine the reasons, extent, and correlates of self-medication practices among university students in Palestine.
A self-administered questionnaire eliciting self-medication practices was distributed to university students in a cross-sectional design. The 4 variables, sex, type of school, self-care orientation, and medication knowledge, were investigated for possible correlation with self-medication practices. Multiple logistic regression and Chi-square statistics were used in data analysis.
Self-medication practices were reported by 98% of the surveyed students (n
=
1581). Approximately two thirds of the respondents reported a high self-care orientation and one third reported “good” medication knowledge. Multiple logistic regressions indicted that self-care orientation, medication knowledge, and sex were insignificant predictors of self-medication practices, whereas the type of school (
P
=
.012) was a significant predictor. A significant relation between the 4 variables and the type of therapeutic class used in self-medication was observed. For example, males were more inclined to use antiallergic medications (OR
=
1.48) than females. Medical students were more likely to use laxatives/antidiarrheal agents (OR
=
1.49) than nonmedical students. Respondents with high a self-care orientation were more inclined to use headache relievers (OR
=
2.22) compared to those with low self-care orientation. The most commonly reported reason for self-medication practices was simplicity of the illness encountered.
Self-medication practices were common among the university students studied. Sex, type of school, self-care orientation, and medication knowledge are important personal factors that are associated with the selection of certain types of therapeutic classes used in self-medication.