Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
Toxicology and Addiction Research Center, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
BMC Med Educ. 2021 Jan 14;21(1):49. doi: 10.1186/s12909-020-02374-0.
Self-medication is defined as using medicinal products to treat the disorders or symptoms diagnosed by oneself. Although informed self-medication is one of the ways to reduce health care costs, inappropriate self-treatment can pose various risks including drug side effects, recurrence of symptoms, drug resistance, etc. The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacy and medical students toward self-medication.
This study was conducted in Zabol University of Medical Sciences in 2018. Overall, 170 pharmacy and medical students were included. A three-part researcher-made questionnaire was designed to address the students' knowledge, attitude, and practice. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS 25 software.
According to the results, 97 (57.1%) students had carried out self-medication within the past 6 months. Overall, the students self-medicated on average 4.2 ± 2.9 times per year. Self-medication was more common in male students (65.4%, P = 0.043). Cold was the most common ailment treated with self-medication (93.2%), and antibiotics (74.4%) were the most commonly used drugs. The primary information sources used by the students were their previous prescriptions (47.4%). Pharmacy students had a higher level of drug information (P < 0.001). There was a statistically significant association between the level of drug information and the tendency for self-medication (P = 0.005). Disease recurrence was the most common negative complication of self-medication.
There is a need to educate pharmacy and medical students regarding self-medication and its side effects. The high prevalence of self-medication and the overuse of antibiotics can pose a significant risk of drug resistance.
自我药疗是指使用药物来治疗自己诊断出的疾病或症状。尽管知情自我药疗是降低医疗成本的方法之一，但不当的自我治疗会带来各种风险，包括药物副作用、症状复发、耐药性等。本研究旨在调查药学和医学专业学生对自我药疗的知识、态度和实践。
本研究于 2018 年在扎布尔医科大学进行。共纳入 170 名药学和医学专业学生。设计了一份由三部分组成的研究者自制问卷，以了解学生的知识、态度和实践。统计分析在 SPSS 25 软件中进行。
根据结果，97（57.1%）名学生在过去 6 个月内进行过自我药疗。总体而言，学生平均每年自我药疗 4.2±2.9 次。男性学生（65.4%，P=0.043）自我药疗更为常见。感冒是最常见的自我药疗治疗的疾病（93.2%），抗生素（74.4%）是最常用的药物。学生主要的信息来源是他们之前的处方（47.4%）。药学专业学生的药物信息水平更高（P<0.001）。药物信息水平与自我药疗倾向之间存在统计学显著关联（P=0.005）。疾病复发是自我药疗最常见的负面并发症。
需要对药学和医学专业学生进行自我药疗及其副作用的教育。自我药疗和抗生素的过度使用会带来严重的耐药风险。
