Self-Medication Practice and Associated Factors Among Health Care Professionals at Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction: Despite self-medication empowers patients in making decisions about the management of minor illnesses independently, the prevalence among health care professionals has sharply increased throughout the world. Self-medication has negative consequences on both the health care professionals themselves and health care delivery. Hence, this study assessed self-medication practices and associated factors among health care professionals at Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Hospital. Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted using a structured questionnaire among health care professionals working at Debre Markos Comprehensive Specialized Hospital from October 10 to 25, 2020. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to select 227 study participants. Multivariate logistic regression was computed using the statistical package for social sciences version 20 and variables with a p-value less than 0.05 were taken as statistically significant. Results were presented in the form of tables and graphs. Results: Among 227 health professional, 164 (72.2%; 95% CI: 66.0%, 77.7%) practiced self-medication. Of these, 107 (65.2%; 95% CI: 57.3%, 71.8%) stated the negative consequence of self-medication. Drug resistance 96 (89.7%) and adverse drug reaction 95 (88.8%) were reported as a consequence. The predictor of self-medication among health professionals was the pharmacy profession (AOR: 11.88, 95% CI (1.38-102.38)). The most common disease conditions for practicing self-medication were headache 153 (93.3%), respiratory tract infection 116 (70.7%) and gastrointestinal symptoms 103 (62.8%). Pain killers 154 (93.9%), antibiotics 122 (74.4%), and antacid 101 (61.6%) were frequently used for selfmedication and health professionals got the medicines from drug retail shops 130 (79.3%) and workplace 104 (63.4%). Mild disease condition 128 (78%), time-saving 124 (75.6%), and accessibility 97 (59.1%) were the reasons for self-medication. Conclusion: More than two-thirds of health professionals practiced self-medication and reported the negative consequence of self-medication. The predictor of self-medication was the pharmacy profession. The provision of appropriate health education was recommended for promoting rational medication use.

Extent of and Factors Associated with Self-Medication among Clients Visiting Community Pharmacies in the Era of COVID-19: Does It Relieve the Possible Impact of the Pandemic on the Health-Care System?

“… 39 Most of them (93.5%) accessed drugs largely from community drug outlets through asking pharmacy professionals for drugs by disclosing symptoms of illness (69.3%). Similar trends have been reported in other studies, with 79.3%, 8 73%, 62 and 40.3% 39 preferring drug outlets to access drugs. In this study, good knowledge was reported in 47.6%, comparable to a study (45.4%) conducted in Gondar, Ethiopia.…”

“…In this study, the extent of self-medication was found to be 73.6%, relatively similar to studies in Pakistan (64%), 43 Bangladesh (71.4%), 44 and Ethiopia (71.4%) 8 that were conducted in the analogous context of the COVID-19 pandemic, though greater than findings in Brazil (14.9%), 45 Tamil Nadu (17.8%), 46 Saudi Arabia (35.4%), 47 and India (35.1%). 14 Other results from Ethiopia in different towns further strengthen this difference: Welaita Soddo (33.7%), 48 Jijiga (37.5%), 2 Dessie (42.4%), 49 and Gonder (50.2%).…”

“… 60 , 61 Very high proportions (>90%) have been reported in other studies. 8 , 14 , 62 This study also revealed that prior experience was the major (57.8%) reason for the practice by extrapolating drug information from previous prescriptions (68%), and other studies have found repeated prescriptions as primary sources — 63% 63 and 51.4% 14 — and prior experience (57.8%) increase confidence in repetition. 39 Most of them (93.5%) accessed drugs largely from community drug outlets through asking pharmacy professionals for drugs by disclosing symptoms of illness (69.3%).…”

“…Over counter/nonprescribed drugs: are pharmaceuticals that can be legally obtained without the need for a prescription from a licensed medical professional from a drug outlet, eg, paracetamol, ibuprofen, Advil, cough syrup, antacids. 8 …”

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“…One study reported that about 60% of patients who experienced symptoms of heartburn chose to selfmedicate with OTC medications, which included antacids 3 . In other studies, antacids have constituted one of the most used and/or abused group of medicines in self-medication practices; only falling short (in terms of ranking) to antipyretics and analgesics 4 in some cases and to analgesics and antimicrobials in other cases 5,6 . Although it is held that antacids are generally safe at recommended doses and usually present with few side effects due to their low systemic absorption 7 , their continuous abuse have been associated with some reported adverse effects.…”