Influence of Medical Education on Medicine Use and Self-Medication Among Medical Students: A Cross-Sectional Study from Kabul

Abstract

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with the participation of all first-and fifth-year medical students by using a short, self-administered questionnaire. The prevalence of self-medication was estimated in the entire study population and also in those who had used medicines in the preceding one week. Results: Of the total 302 students, the prevalence of medicine use was 38%. The prevalence of self-medication in all study population was 25.16%, whereas in those who had used medicines was 64.9%. Prescription-only medicines consisted of 59.2% of selfmedication. The practice of self-medication and the use of prescription-only medicines were more prevalent among students in their fifth year and among males. While the prevalence of medicine use was the same among males and females, it differed between students in the fifth and first year. Paracetamol, anti-infectives, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were more frequently used medicines. Conclusion:The use of medicines, self-medication and the use of prescription-only medicines were more prevalent among fifth-year students compared to those in the first-year. This apparently reflects the effect of medical education and training. More specific studies are required to address the issue in more detail and to facilitate interventions. The estimation of the prevalence of self-medication by using a short acceptable recall period, confined in those who had used medicines, seems to be more reasonable and accurate than by using a longer recall period in the entire study population. The prevalence of prescription-only medicines in self-medication could also be a useful indicator.

Self-medication's knowledge and practice in adults attending pharmacies in Tripoli, Libya

“…The study reveals that participants with higher educational levels were more frequently practiced self-medication compared to others, and this finding is in accordance with other study that showed an increase in self-medication among educated patients [10] . The current study also revealed that 69% participants' primary sources of information on self-medication were social media and the internet.…”

Artemisinin-based combination therapy amongst medical students in the University of Benin, South-South Nigeria: A cross-sectional study

“…22 As a result of this advancement, studies comparing self-medication among medical and nonmedical students have been developed. [23][24] These findings support previous findings that self-medication was more common among medical and pharmacy students than other undergraduates. These factors may have played a significant role in the emergence and spread of antimalarial resistance, as seen during the chloroquine era, when chloroquine was the cornerstone of malaria treatment for decades.…”

A study of self-medication practices among medical students

“…Our findings are similar to those reported by Kasulkar et al 6 Other authors have reported this prevalence among medical students within a wide range of 25% to 96%. 3,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Because of use of different criteria and reference periods in various studies, it is difficult to compare the overall prevalence among them. The present study found a significantly more prevalence of self-medication among female students as compared to males, which is in concordance with previous research.…”