The Determinants of Self Medications

Abstract

Abstract

Self medication is the selection and use of medicines by individuals to treat self recognized illnesses or sym-ptoms.

Objectives:  To identify various psychosocial factors associated with self medication.

Design:  Population based case control study.

Place and Duration:  Lahore-12 months.

Subjects and Methods:  A population based case - control study with 1:1 case to control ratio was con-ducted. A total of 100 persons (50 cases and 50 con-trols) were recruited in study. Selection was made on laid down criteria after taking due consent. Interviews were conducted through a pretested questionnaire. Data was collected, compiled and analyzed through SPSS version 19. After describing the demographic characteristics using frequency tables, simple and mul-tivariate logistic regression was used to calculate odds ratio and their 95% confidence intervals. Results:  Total number of subjects was 100. Self medication was found to be more in people below age 25 years (87%) (mean 18 ± 0.338 SD). It was more common in females (61%) as compared to males (39%). It was also found that self medication was more in people with education above metric (96%) than those below metric (4%). People who were un-married (85%) did self medication more frequently than unmarried (15%). In bivariate analysis, easy avai-lability of drugs, self confidence, lower socio-econo-mic status, repeated exposure to disease, hesitancy to visiting the doctor, anxiety and edge of education were found to be significantly associated with self medicat-ion. However in multivariate analysis, while controll-ing all other risk factors, illiteracy, repeated exposure to disease, hesitancy to visit the doctor and edge of education were significantly associated with self medi-cation.

Key Words:  Self medication, psychosocial factors, community.