Prevalence, Knowledge and Associated Determinants of Auto-Medication in the Limbe Municipality

Abstract

Introduction: The practice of auto-medication is on the rise in most sub-Saharan countries. The effects of these may be associated with increased drug resistance in the future, complication of the course of a disease, adverse drug interactions etc. Auto-medication is of course a global public health concern, which requires appropriate attention to evade future undesirable effects. Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, prevalence and associated determinants of auto-medication in the Limbe municipality. Method: This was a community-based cross-sectional study, conducted among 284 enrolled participants in Limbe Health District between January to August 2021. A structured questionnaire-based interview was used to collect data from each study subject. Then, data were categorised and analysed using SPSS version 20 software. Results: Majority of 213 (75%) of the participants practised auto-medication. The most frequently reported auto-medication symptoms were fever and headache 202 (71.1%). 95 (15.6%) practised auto-medication because they believed it saved time, meanwhile 5 (0.8%) had the belief that health personnel are too busy in the hospital with lots of patients to serve. Concerning knowledge, 68.9%, 13.1% and 18.2% had grading as Good, Poor and uncertain respectively. 58.

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“…These include chromosomal abnormalities (chromosomes 3 and 10), alcohol consumption, toxoplasmosis, rubella, cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex (TORCH) infections, maternal diabetes, maternal exposure to teratogenic drugs (lithium, aspirin, retinoic acid, amidopyrine, corticosteroids, anti-convulsant) and ionic radiation [11,14,15]. In our case, none of these factors were identified, although we cannot completely rule them out since the use of over-the-counter drugs and street medications are common in our setting [16,17]. Antenatal ultrasonography is very effective in the diagnosis of holoprosencephaly between 21 weeks and 35 weeks of gestation and a confirmation is made by a coronal view of the brain in the presence of the absence of cavum septum pellucidum with squaring and fusion of fontal horns.…”