Juneja Khushboo, Chauhan Ambren, Shree Tuhina, Roy Priyanka, Bardhan Mainak, Ahmad Absar, Pawaiya Amit Singh, Anand Ayush
Department of Community Medicine, Manipal TATA Medical College, Jamshedpur, Karnataka, India.
Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
SAGE Open Med. 2024 Mar 25;12:20503121241240507. doi: 10.1177/20503121241240507. eCollection 2024.
This study aimed to determine self-medication prevalence and its associated factors.
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the urban and rural catchment areas of Uttar Pradesh, India, among 440 adults using a pretested, semistructured questionnaire. The Chi-square test and logistic regression were used to determine the association of self-medication prevalence with various independent variables. The associations were reported as adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals.
The prevalence of medication use was 66.4%. The majority of participants (45%) took medicine for fever, cough (40.1%), and cold (31.8%). Allopathy (83.2%) was the most common medicine system used for self-medication. More than half reported taking medicine such as paracetamol (52%), followed by cough syrup (21%) and antihistaminic (17%). Convenience (46%) and lack of time (35.3%) were commonly cited reasons for self-medication. Also, 64.4% of the respondents practiced self-medication on the pharmacist's recommendation. Urban participants (adjusted odds ratio: 9.85, 95% confidence interval: 5.32-18.23), females (adjusted odds ratio: 2.32, 95% confidence interval: 1.18-4.57), skilled workers (adjusted odds ratio: 5.62, 95% confidence interval: 1.80-17.5), and those who completed primary school (adjusted odds ratio: 2.48, 95% confidence interval: 1.16-5.25) were more likely to self-medicate than rural, male, unemployed, and illiterate participants, respectively. Also, participants whose income was 30,000 Indian rupees (adjusted odds ratio: 3.21, 95% confidence interval: 1.00-10.21) were more likely to self-medicate than those whose income was less than 4000.
A high prevalence of self-medication was found, particularly in urban areas. Convenience and lack of time were commonly cited reasons for self-medication. Allopathy was the most widely used medicine system for self-medication. Antipyretics, cough syrups, and antiallergics were most commonly self-medicated. Gender, education, and income were associated with self-medication. The study highlighted the increased usage among females which could be further explored and role of pharmacists' recommendation as a major driver for self-medication.
本研究旨在确定自我药疗的患病率及其相关因素。
在印度北方邦的城乡集水区对440名成年人进行了一项基于社区的横断面研究，使用预先测试的半结构化问卷。采用卡方检验和逻辑回归来确定自我药疗患病率与各种独立变量之间的关联。关联结果以调整后的比值比和95%置信区间报告。
用药患病率为66.4%。大多数参与者（45%）服用治疗发烧、咳嗽（40.1%）和感冒（31.8%）的药物。对抗疗法（83.2%）是自我药疗最常用的医疗体系。超过一半的人报告服用过对乙酰氨基酚等药物（52%），其次是止咳糖浆（21%）和抗组胺药（17%）。方便（46%）和没时间（35.3%）是自我药疗最常被提及的原因。此外，64.4%的受访者是根据药剂师的建议进行自我药疗的。城市参与者（调整后的比值比：9.85，95%置信区间：5.32 - 18.23）、女性（调整后的比值比：2.32，95%置信区间：1.18 - 4.57）、技术工人（调整后的比值比：5.62，95%置信区间：1.80 - 17.5）以及完成小学教育的人（调整后的比值比：2.48，95%置信区间：1.16 - 5.25）分别比农村、男性、失业和文盲参与者更有可能进行自我药疗。此外，收入为30000印度卢比的参与者（调整后的比值比：3.21，95%置信区间：1.00 - 10.21）比收入低于4000的参与者更有可能进行自我药疗。
发现自我药疗的患病率很高，尤其是在城市地区。方便和没时间是自我药疗最常被提及的原因。对抗疗法是自我药疗使用最广泛的医疗体系。退烧药、止咳糖浆和抗过敏药是最常自我药疗的药物。性别、教育程度和收入与自我药疗有关。该研究强调了女性中自我药疗使用率的增加，这一点有待进一步探究，同时也凸显了药剂师的建议作为自我药疗主要驱动因素的作用。
