Wijesinghe Pushpa R, Jayakody Ravindra L, de A Seneviratne Rohini
Epidemiology Unit, Ministry of Health, 231, De Saram Place, Colombo 10, Sri Lanka.
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
WHO South East Asia J Public Health. 2012 Jan-Mar;1(1):28-41. doi: 10.4103/2224-3151.206911.
Self-medication is widely practised in many developing countries. The determinants of self-medication need to be understood to design adequate medicine information policies and patient-dispenser education strategies. Hence, the prevalence of medicine use and predictors of self-medication were determined in Sri Lanka.
In a community-based cross- sectional study, data were collected from 1800 adults selected from Gampaha and Polonnaruwa districts respectively. Study participants were sampled using a multistage cluster sampling technique. Trained public health midwives administered the questionnaire. Two Likert scales provided information on access to medical care and satisfaction with available pharmacy services. About 95% of the sampled population participated in the study.
Overall, prevalence of medication use (allopathic, traditional, home remedies) in urban and rural population was 33.9% and 35.3%, respectively. Self-medication prevalence of allopathic drugs in the urban sector (12.2%) was significantly higher than in the rural (7.9%) sector(p<0.05). In the urban sector, small household size and preference to have medicines from outside the pharmacies predisposed to self-medication. The higher acceptability of medical services and regularity of medical care decreased the likelihood of self-medication. In the rural sector, lower satisfaction about the healthcare providers' concern for clients, lower satisfaction about affordability of medical care and higher satisfaction with technical competence of the pharmacy staff increased the likelihood of self-medication. In both urban and rural sectors, when symptom count increased, tendency to self-medicate decreased.
Self-medication prevalence was higher in urban compared to rural areas in Sri Lanka. Some aspects of access to medical care, satisfaction with pharmacy services and perceived severity of the disease were found to be important determinants of self-medication.
自我药疗在许多发展中国家广泛存在。为制定适当的药品信息政策和患者 - 药剂师教育策略，需要了解自我药疗的决定因素。因此，在斯里兰卡确定了药品使用的流行情况和自我药疗的预测因素。
在一项基于社区的横断面研究中，分别从甘巴哈和波隆纳鲁沃地区选取了1800名成年人收集数据。研究参与者采用多阶段整群抽样技术进行抽样。经过培训的公共卫生助产士发放问卷。两个李克特量表提供了关于获得医疗服务和对现有药房服务满意度的信息。约95%的抽样人群参与了研究。
总体而言，城市和农村人口中使用药物（对抗疗法、传统药物、家庭疗法）的患病率分别为33.9%和35.3%。城市地区对抗疗法药物的自我药疗患病率（12.2%）显著高于农村地区（7.9%）（p<0.05）。在城市地区，家庭规模小以及倾向于从药店以外获取药品易导致自我药疗。对医疗服务较高的接受度和定期的医疗护理降低了自我药疗的可能性。在农村地区，对医疗服务提供者对患者关心程度较低的满意度、对医疗费用可承受性较低的满意度以及对药房工作人员技术能力较高的满意度增加了自我药疗的可能性。在城市和农村地区，当症状数量增加时，自我药疗的倾向降低。
在斯里兰卡，城市地区的自我药疗患病率高于农村地区。获得医疗服务的某些方面、对药房服务的满意度以及对疾病严重程度的认知被发现是自我药疗的重要决定因素。
