A Cross-Sectional Study of the Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Self-Medication Among the General Population in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

IntroductionSelf-medication (SM) is defined as consuming pharmaceutical drugs without the advice of a physician for either diagnosis or treatment. Reliance on self-medication has become a more common worldwide issue and now plays a major role in self-care. However, the practice is linked to many risks for patients and the whole community. This study assesses knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with self-medication in the western region of Saudi Arabia. MethodsThis is an observational questionnaire-based cross-sectional study conducted over two months, between January and March 2022. The survey comprised 29 questions adapted from similar studies and was translated into Arabic to fit the study population. All residents of the three major cities, Makkah, Jeddah, and Taif, were included; the population under 18 years of age and health workers were excluded. We used OpenEpi version 3.0 (www.OpenEpi.com) for sample size calculation and Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM Corp, Armonk, USA) was used for data analysis. ResultsMost of the participants (67.7%) declared that they practiced self-medication: (28.6%) men and (39.1%) women. Self-medicating for different indications showed differences between men and women but without statistical significance. Major indications for self-medicating were headache (45.3%), cough, cold/flu (42.7%), and fever (34.0%). The primary reasons participants gave for choosing to self-medicate were easy availability of the medicines (41.4%) and that they were treating a minor illness (40.8%). Many types of medicines were used, most commonly analgesics (44.0%) and antipyretics (43.6%). ConclusionThe practice of self-medication is high among the population in Makkah, Jeddah, and Taif. Educating the public on the consequences and adverse effects is necessary.

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“…This study revealed that the most common conditions encouraging self-medication were pain, fever and cough. This is in contrast from another study in which common cold was found to be most common cause followed by fever and headache (22). This finding is in line with a study held in Rawalpindi where most of the students were taking medication for the relief of pain (23).…”

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“…59 Compared to current research, only 26% of individuals engaged in self-medication practices, despite advancements in healthcare services, larger sample sizes, and improved methods of data collection employed in the studies above. Other studies conducted in Columbia and Saudi Arabia also showed a higher prevalence of selftreatment, 60,61 pointing to the necessity for addressing the factors that drive individuals to self-medicate of which the most common were fears related to infection, quarantine, and societal stigma were the predominant motivations for selfmedication. 62,63 However, studies done on self-medication during COVID-19 pandemic in: United States 13%, Australia 11%, Germany 11%, Spain 9%, United Kingdom 9%, Mexico 8%, and Italy 8% 64 showed disparity with the current report which may be due to drug policies and better health infrastructure.…”

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