Assessment of self-medication practices in the context of Covid-19 outbreak in Togo

Abstract

Background: To date, there is no effective treatment for Covid-19 which is a pandemic due to a new coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. In Togo where four people in five practice self-medication, the absence of a cure for Covid-19 and its constant progression requires an assessment of self-medication patterns in the context of the pandemic. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of self-medication to prevent Covid-19 and its associated factors in Lomé, Togo. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lomé, capital city of Togo, from April 23rd to May 8th, 2020 in a random sample of participants from five sectors: healthcare, air transport, police, road transport and informal. Participants were invited to give information about their self-medication practices to prevent Covid-19 within the two weeks preceding the survey. Results: A total of 955 participants (71.6% of men) with a median age of 36 (IQR 32–43) were included. Around 22.1% were in the air transport sector, 20.5% in police, and 38.7% in the health sector. The overall prevalence of self-medication to prevent Covid-19 was 34.2% (95CI%: 31.2-37.3%). Most commonly used products were vitamin C (27.6%) and traditional medicine (10.2%). Only 2.0% of participants reported using Chloroquine/Hydroxychloroquine. Female sex (aOR=1.90; p<0.001), working in the health sector (aOR=1.89; p= 0.001), secondary education level (aOR= 2.28; p= 0.043) and university education level (aOR= 5.11; p<0.001) were associated with self-medication. Conclusion: Prevalence of self-medication was high in high-risk populations in Lomé. Intensifying awareness campaigns is crucial to fight misinformation about alleged Covid-19 prevention products on social media.

Self-Medication Practices and Associated Factors in the Prevention and/or Treatment of COVID-19 Virus: A Population-Based Survey in Nigeria

“…The disaggregation of Hydroxychloroquine and Chloroquine from other antimalaria drugs was informed by the nonrandomized trial conducted in French which seemed to suggest a positive outcome in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, particularly those that received Hydroxychloroquine (600 mg/day) (32), and the claim by the American President, Donald Trump that he used Hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19 infection (33). Like other self-medication studies (14,(19)(20)(21), our study showed that some of the participants also used antibiotics, such as Amoxicillin, Ciprofloxacin, Erythromycin, and Metronidazole either as a perceived treatment or prevention of COVID-19. In our study, 10.2% of the participants used herbal products for similar purposes.…”

“…From our study, the prevalence of self-medication for COVID-19 treatment or prevention was 41%. This finding was comparably higher than what was earlier reported in Togo (20). We also observed a prevalence of above 30% among respondents <24 years, that attained below tertiary education, of Islamic faith, and with insufficient knowledge of self-medication.…”

“…Nevertheless, most of our findings have also been previously reported elsewhere. For instance, emergency illness had been reported as a reason for self-medication (19,25); others were delay in receiving treatment at health facilities and hospital services (19,20,26), the influence of friends (25,27), unavailability of drugs, distance to the health facility, proximity of the pharmacy to home and charges at a health facility (19,25), as well as stigmatization (20) and influence of the media (20,21).…”

“…In our study, 10.2% of the participants used herbal products for similar purposes. This could be explained by the fact that traditional medicines were frequently used in Nigeria for the treatment of diseases (34,35), and also because of the availability and low cost of herbal products in African countries (20). It is interestingly worthy of note, that the WHO has welcomed innovations around the world, including traditional medicines/herbal products in the search for potential treatments for COVID-19 (6).…”

Basic Study on Scale-Free Networks and Targeted Antivirus Prophylaxis Supported by Information Communication Tools

“…There is currently no effective treatment for COVID-19 (European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, 2020; World Health Organization (WHO), 2020a; World Health Organization, 2020b), a disease caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In Togo, Africa, four out of five people are reported to be practicing self-medication due to a shortage of physicians as well as for economic reasons (Sadio et al, 2020). Similarly, examples of self-medication practices in the setting of COVID-19 outbreaks have also been reported in Bangladesh.…”