Araia Zenawi Zeramariam, Gebregziabher Nahom Kiros, Mesfun Araia Berhane
National TB and Leprosy Control Program, Communicable Disease Control Division., Ministry of Health, Asmara, Eritrea.
School of Public Health, Asmara College of Health Sciences, Asmara, Eritrea.
J Pharm Policy Pract. 2019 Feb 19;12:3. doi: 10.1186/s40545-019-0165-2. eCollection 2019.
Self-medication is a common practice globally and the resulting irrational drug use is raising concerns. Up-to-date there is no systematic study conducted on self medication practice among students or the general community in Eritrea. The present study aimed to determine the prevalence of self-medication practice and its influencing factors among students of Asmara College of Health Science.
A cross sectional study was conducted from 21st May -15th June 2018. Data on self medication practice and its associated factors was collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Data analysis was done using SPSS - 23 and explained with descriptive and inferential statistics.
A total of 313 students responded to the questionnaire with a response rate of 93.6%. The overall prevalence of self-medication practice was 79.2%. Headache and fever were reported as the most common complaint related to self-medication practice. Among the reasons for self medication practice, prior experience was the most frequently reported. Analgesics, antipyretic and antibacterial were the leading class of medicine used in self-medication practice while adverse drug reactions were reported by 9.2% of respondents. In this study, sex, income, and school of study were found to be the independent predictors for self-medication practice.
National guideline on medicine access should be developed and strong measures should be implemented to halt the selling of medications without a proper prescription. In addition, students should be educated on the consequences of self-medication practices.
自我药疗在全球是一种常见现象，由此导致的不合理用药引发了人们的关注。迄今为止，厄立特里亚尚未对学生或普通社区的自我药疗行为进行系统研究。本研究旨在确定阿斯马拉健康科学学院学生自我药疗行为的患病率及其影响因素。
于2018年5月21日至6月15日进行了一项横断面研究。使用自填式问卷收集有关自我药疗行为及其相关因素的数据。数据分析使用SPSS - 23进行，并通过描述性和推断性统计进行解释。
共有313名学生对问卷做出回应，回应率为93.6%。自我药疗行为的总体患病率为79.2%。头痛和发烧被报告为与自我药疗行为相关的最常见症状。在自我药疗行为的原因中，既往经验是最常被报告的。镇痛药、退烧药和抗菌药是自我药疗行为中使用的主要药物类别，9.2%的受访者报告有药物不良反应。在本研究中，性别、收入和学习学院被发现是自我药疗行为的独立预测因素。
应制定国家药品获取指南，并应采取有力措施停止无适当处方销售药品。此外，应教育学生了解自我药疗行为的后果。
