Nazari Javad, Ghafoury Roya, Chezani-Sharahi Nahid, Moradzadeh Rahmatollah, Naghshbandi Mobin
Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.
Department of Medicine, Student Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Front Public Health. 2024 Dec 19;12:1502074. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1502074. eCollection 2024.
The self-medication of antibiotics is a global crisis, posing a significant challenge to healthcare systems worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of self-medication in the adult population and the factors influencing it.
This population-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Arak, a city in central Iran, from January 2019 to January 2020. Stratified random sampling was used to determine the recruitment criteria, and a total of 6,692 individuals participated in the study. Self-medication of antibiotics was defined as the self-reported annual consumption of antibiotics, as well as a record of antibiotic use registered in insurance services during the same period. The variables examined in this study included age, gender, educational level, occupational status, insurance coverage, and marital status. All gathered data were analyzed using SPSS version 16.0 and STATA version 16.0 software. -values < 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
The annual prevalence of antibiotic self-medication was 30.3% ( = 2,033). Chi-square and Mann-Whitney tests identified a significant correlation between educational level and self-medication practices ( = 0.028), while no significant associations were observed with gender, occupation, insurance coverage, or marital status. Logistic regression analysis revealed that female participants were less likely to self-medicate ( = 0.027), and both older age and higher levels of education were associated with a reduced likelihood of antibiotic self-medication ( = 0.001 and = 0.044, respectively).
Factors such as female gender, older age, and higher education levels are significant determinants affecting antibiotic self-medication.
抗生素自我药疗是一个全球性危机，给全球医疗保健系统带来重大挑战。本研究旨在调查成年人群中自我药疗的频率及其影响因素。
本基于人群的横断面研究于2019年1月至2020年1月在伊朗中部城市阿拉克进行。采用分层随机抽样确定纳入标准，共有6692人参与研究。抗生素自我药疗定义为自我报告的抗生素年消费量以及同期保险服务中记录的抗生素使用情况。本研究中考察的变量包括年龄、性别、教育程度、职业状况、保险覆盖范围和婚姻状况。所有收集的数据均使用SPSS 16.0版和STATA 16.0版软件进行分析。P值<0.05被认为具有统计学意义。
抗生素自我药疗的年患病率为30.3%（n = 2033）。卡方检验和曼-惠特尼检验确定教育程度与自我药疗行为之间存在显著相关性（P = 0.028），而未观察到与性别、职业、保险覆盖范围或婚姻状况有显著关联。逻辑回归分析显示，女性参与者自我药疗的可能性较小（P = 0.027），年龄较大和教育程度较高均与抗生素自我药疗可能性降低相关（分别为P = 0.001和P = 0.044）。
女性性别、年龄较大和教育程度较高等因素是影响抗生素自我药疗的重要决定因素。
