Prevalence, practice, determinants and adverse effects of self-medication among young people living in a suburban community of Ekiti, Nigeria: A community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Objectives: Health hazards such as adverse drug reactions and prolonged morbidity are fallouts of self-medication among young people in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence, practice, determinants, and adverse effects of self-medication among young people living in a suburban community of Ekiti, Nigeria. Methods: This survey was a descriptive, cross-sectional study of 602 young people aged 16–24 years., who were randomly selected in the community. A predesigned self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The study was conducted from 1st March to 31st May 2023. The independent variables measured include the sociodemographic characteristics, while the dependent variables are the practice of self-medication and factors that predisposes to self-medication. The general characteristics of the participants were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The categorical variables were reported as frequency distribution and proportions with 95% confidence intervals and were compared using the Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Over 30% (31.7%) of the participants engage in self-medication. A larger proportion of the people who practiced self-medication lived a trekking distance of less than 1 km from the nearest health facility with a doctor ( p = 0.044). The practice of self-medication was statistically related with being a student when compared with gainfully employed and unemployed people ( p = 0.006). Fever (39.8%), abdominal pain (17.3%) and headaches (16.2%) were the topmost three ailments that necessitated self-medication. Antimalarials (44.0%), antibiotics (25.1%), and antipyretics (16.8%) were high on the list of drugs used for self-medication. Headache (34.0%) was the most common adverse reaction from self-medication among the participants studied. Conclusion: Adverse reactions and drug addiction were negative fallouts of self-medication, which can affect the health of young people as they grow into adulthood. Therefore, monitoring of drug outlets must be taken seriously by government agencies to prevent the worsening of the negative effects of self-medication.