Prevalence of self-medication and its associated factors: a case study of Kurdistan province

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-258
Author(s):  
Ebrahim Ghaderi ◽  
Kambiz Hassanzadeh ◽  
Khaled Rahmani ◽  
Ghobad Moradi ◽  
Nader Esmailnasab ◽  
...  

Purpose Health is one of the most basic human rights. Self-medication not only results in many risks, complications and mortalities but also remains a massive economic burden on governments’ pharmaceutical budgets, insurance companies and the general population. The importance of self-medication as one of the worldwide health problems, this paper aims to investigate the extent of this problem and related factors in Sanandaj, Iran in 2018. Design/methodology/approach This cross-sectional, descriptive study was conducted on 838 people who referred to pharmacies in Sanandaj, Iran in 2018. The subjects were selected in 10 pharmacies, 84 in each, randomly. A self-constructed questionnaire was used to collect information about demographic features, prevalence and reasons for self-medication. The data was analyzed statistically by SPSS software. Findings The results show a high prevalence of self-medication, 73.70 per cent among people who referred to the pharmacies in Sanandaj during 2018. There was a significant correlation between self-medication and occupation, education level, age groups, chronic disease, smoking or reasons to refer to pharmacies (p < 0.05). Analgesics, antibiotics; non-steroid anti-inflammatory, cold and gastrointestinal medicines were the most commonly used medicines by the subjects. People with headache, cold, infection, stomach pain, toothache and dysmenorrhea were more likely to act self-medication than people with other complaints. Among people who do self-medication, (85.60 per cent) had already experienced satisfactory results after using medicines. Mild symptoms of the disease (74.11 per cent), availability of medicines (72.98 per cent) and easy access to medicine supplies in pharmacies (71.35 per cent) are other reasons for self-medication. Research limitations/implications In general, the study had some limitations. One of the limitations was related to the research period i.e. spring and summer. So, it is suggested to conduct studies in other seasons, too. Furthermore, as the time of self-medication was the past three months, there was a probability of recall bias. Originality/value The prevalence of self-medication in Sanandaj is high and alarming, implementing educational programs about this issue is extremely required. Health policymakers should take all necessary steps to tackle self-medication efficiently.

Esculapio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-33
Author(s):  
Bushra Asif Ali Khan ◽  
Faiza Muzahir ◽  
Sahar Abdul Rauf ◽  
Syeda Rubab Fatima ◽  
Abida Pervaiz ◽  
...  

Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess the trends of self-medication practices and to determine the prevalence, characteristics, related factors, and effects of self-medication among the patients conducted. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was on patients of Combined Military Hospital Lahore on a sample size of 365. The data was collected and entered in a predesigned questionnaire about self-medication later analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Results: The prevalence of self-medication was 95.3% and effectiveness was 87.7%. The common reasons for self-medication were prior knowledge of usefulness of remedy (63.3%), non-affordability of consultant charges (18.4%), and lack of time (21.9%). Frequently used medicines included antibiotics (30.1%), analgesics (69.6%), antipyretics (51.0%), and antihistamines (23.6%). Respondents claimed to receive information about these drugs from various sources including doctor (38.6%), previous prescription (31.8%), retailer seller (13.4%), family/friends (43.6%), media (7.9%) and other sources (1.6%). Conclusion: It had been concluded that there is a high prevalence of self-medication. There is a need to raise public awareness about the appropriate use in order to prevent potential hazards of self-medication. Key Words: trends, self-medication, out-patient department How to cite: Khan B.A.A, Muzahir F, Rauf S.A, Fatima S.R, Pervaiz A, Jamil S. Trends of self- medication amongst the patients visiting the out-patient department of Combined Military Hospital, Lahore. Esculapio.2021. 30-33


Author(s):  
Shao Hung Goh

Purpose Warehouses are large emitters of greenhouse gases and their impact on climate change is under increasing focus. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the barriers that inhibit the adoption of low-carbon warehousing in Asia-Pacific and their links to carbon abatement performance. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory conceptual model was first developed from a literature review of the general barriers to sustainable supply chain practices and hence potentially in low-carbon warehousing. A large contract logistics services provider in the Asia-Pacific served as the subject of a case study. The perceived barriers to low-carbon warehousing were derived from an internal survey of respondents from the case company and regressed against carbon abatement outcomes at that organization’s operations across the region. Findings Results show that the case company reduced carbon emissions by 36 percent on a revenue-normalized basis between 2008 and 2014, but with relatively lower success in emerging markets vs mature markets. An Elastic Net regression analysis confirms that technology and government-related factors are the most important barriers in the case company’s efforts to “decarbonize” its local warehousing operations. However, results suggest that the customer-related barrier, which is highly correlated with the government barrier, is in part driven by the latter. Research limitations/implications This case study is based on a single multinational company in Asia-Pacific, but nonetheless serves as an impetus for more cross-sectional studies to form an industry-wide view. Originality/value An extended stewardship framework based on the natural resource-based view has been proposed, in which logistics services providers take on a proactive boundary-spanning role to lower the external barriers to low-carbon warehousing.


Author(s):  
Fariba Kahnamouei-aghdam ◽  
Anahita Zakeri ◽  
Firouz Amani ◽  
Mostafa Sajjadifar ◽  
Perham Mohammadi ◽  
...  

Background: Self-medication is one of the main health problems. Given the high prevalence of self-medicationin society and between students, the aim of this study was to assess the rate of self-medication among Ardabil medical students.Methods: This cross–sectional study has been done on 150 students which selected randomly from Ardabil Medical University Science students. Data collected by a questionnaire and then analyzed by statistical method in SPSS.19.Results: The rate of self-medication among students was 65%. Most of usage drug was sedatives with 77.1%. 7.2% of students were prepared drugs from places other than pharmacies and most of self-medication was the existence of drug free market with 71%.Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of self-medication among students it is necessary to promote a culture of drug use among students, education in the field of self-medication and its side effects are given to students.


Esculapio ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-33
Author(s):  
Bushra Asif Ali Khan ◽  
Faiza Muzahir ◽  
Sahar Abdul Rauf ◽  
Syeda Rubab Fatima ◽  
Abida Pervaiz ◽  
...  

Objective: The purpose of our study was to assess the trends of self-medication practices and to determine the prevalence, characteristics, related factors, and effects of self-medication among the patients conducted. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was on patients of Combined Military Hospital Lahore on a sample size of 365. The data was collected and entered in a predesigned questionnaire about self-medication later analyzed using SPSS version 17.0. Results: The prevalence of self-medication was 95.3% and effectiveness was 87.7%. The common reasons for self-medication were prior knowledge of usefulness of remedy (63.3%), non-affordability of consultant charges (18.4%), and lack of time (21.9%). Frequently used medicines included antibiotics (30.1%), analgesics (69.6%), antipyretics (51.0%), and antihistamines (23.6%). Respondents claimed to receive information about these drugs from various sources including doctor (38.6%), previous prescription (31.8%), retailer seller (13.4%), family/friends (43.6%), media (7.9%) and other sources (1.6%). Conclusion: It had been concluded that there is a high prevalence of self-medication. There is a need to raise public awareness about the appropriate use in order to prevent potential hazards of self-medication. Key Words: trends, self-medication, out-patient department How to cite: Khan B.A.A, Muzahir F, Rauf S.A, Fatima S.R, Pervaiz A, Jamil S. Trends of self- medication amongst the patients visiting the out-patient department of Combined Military Hospital, Lahore. Esculapio.2021. 30-33


2018 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atefeh Mohammadi

Background: Self-medication can lead to the latency of the real severity of disease, delay in diagnosis, a complication of treatment, threatening side effects, and unexpected intoxication. The present research aimed to explore the prevalence of self-medication and its factors among students affiliated to Bandar Abbas universities in 2016. Materials and Methods: This Descriptive Analytic study was performed on 600 students affiliated to the universities in Bandar Abbas; Islamic Azad University, Payam-e-Noor University, and University of Medical Sciences. The sample was selected through a stratified sampling method, and the data were collected by a questionnaire comprised of two parts, demographic information (6 items), and risk factors of self-medication and self-medicated drugs (26 items). SPSS version 19 was used to analyze the data through the required tests. Result: The mean age of the students was 24.11±5.85 years. One hundred and ninety-one subjects (31.8%) were male, and 409 (68.2%) were female. The results revealed the prevalence of self-medication in the target population was 80.2%., the main reasons for self-medication were reported underestimating the disease 461(77.0%), previous experience of the disease 457(76.4%), repeated prescription 441(73.6%), and easy access to drug 423(70.6%). The most prevalent drugs self-medicated by students were acetaminophen, herbal medicines, antibiotics, other drugs, sedatives, and anti-acids, respectively. Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of self-medication (80.2%) revealed in this research, there is a need for more attentive care for consistent education and drug consumption culture promotion. Specific approaches can help the provision of easy access to medical services in universities.


2012 ◽  
pp. 129-134
Author(s):  
Thi Lan Tran ◽  
Thi Huong Le ◽  
Xuan Ninh Nguyen

Objectives: Assess the nutritional status, worm infection status and some related factors among children aged 12-36 months of Dakrong district, Quang Tri province. Subject and method: A cross sectional study was carried out in 2010, in 680 children aged 12-36 months in 4 communes of Dakrong district, Quang Tri province. Results: The malnutrition rate was 55.0% for underweight, 66.5% for stunting and 16.2% for wasting. The prevalence of malnutrition increases by age group. The prevalence of worm infection was 31.6%, the highest prevalence was belong to Ascaris infection (24.6%), followed by Hookworm and Trichuris (6.5% and 6.2%, respectively). The prevalence of worm infection among children under two is very high (27.0%). The prevalence of worm infection was distributed quite equally between the malnutrition children group and normal children group. Recommendation: Early deworming forchildren from 12 months should be considered as important strategy against the malnutrition of children in Dakrong district, Quang Tri province


Author(s):  
Patrick T. Adegun ◽  
Eyitope O. Amu

Abstract Background: In Nigeria, adolescents are highly vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections (STIs) which have the potential of jeopardising their future reproductive lives if poorly treated. Objective: To determine the prevalence and health care seeking behaviour for STIs among secondary school adolescents in Ado, South-Western Nigeria. Subjects: Male and female adolescents aged 10–19 years. Methods: The study employed a descriptive cross-sectional design. A pre-tested, self-administered, semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from 560 adolescents selected from public and private secondary schools in Ado Local Government Area (LGA) of Ekiti State, using a multistage sampling technique. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Analyzed data were presented in the form of tables and charts. Results: Two hundred and fifty-one (47.1%) respondents had previous symptoms of STIs. The commonest symptoms among the males were penile discharge (30.5%), painful micturition (30.5%) and stomach pain with swollen testes (25.4%). The commonest symptoms among the females were genital itching (27.6%), genital sores (14.1%) and painful micturition (13.1%). Only 26.7% sought treatment from a health facility; 37.0% did nothing; 15.9% went to patent medicine stores, 10.0% used herbs; the rest did self-medication or prayed. Conclusion: The prevalence of STI symptoms among adolescents in Ado-Ekiti is high but their health care seeking behaviour is poor. Health education about the dangers of untreated STI and the importance of seeking treatment early, targeted at adolescents, should be intensified.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Vahedi ◽  
Amin Torabipour ◽  
Amirhossein Takian ◽  
Saeed Mohammadpur ◽  
Alireza Olyaeemanesh ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Unmet need is a critical indicator of access to healthcare services. Despite concrete evidence about unmet need in Iran’s health system, no recent evidence of this negative outcome is available. This study aimed to measure the subjective unmet need (SUN), the factors associated with it and various reasons behind it in Iran. Methods We used the data of 13,005 respondents over the age of 15 from the Iranian Utilization of Healthcare Services Survey in 2016. SUN was defined as citizens whose needs were not sought through formal healthcare services, while they did not show a history of self-medication. The reasons for SUN were categorized into availability, accessibility, responsibility and acceptability of the health system. The multivariable logistic regression was used to determine significant predictors of SUN and associated major reasons. Results About 17% of the respondents (N = 2217) had unmet need for outpatient services. Nearly 40% of the respondents chose only accessibility, 4% selected only availability, 78% chose only responsibility, and 13% selected only acceptability as the main reasons for their unmet need. Higher outpatient needs was the only factor that significantly increased SUN, responsibility-related SUN and acceptability-related SUN. Low education was associated with higher SUN and responsibility-related SUN, while it could also reduce acceptability-related SUN. While SUN and responsibility-related SUN were prevalent among lower economic quintiles, having a complementary insurance was associated with decreased SUN and responsibility-related SUN. The people with basic insurance had lower chances to face with responsibility-related SUN, while employed individuals were at risk to experience SUN. Although the middle-aged group had higher odds to experience SUN, the responsibility-related SUN were prevalent among elderly, while higher age groups had significant chance to be exposed to acceptability-related SUN. Conclusion It seems that Iran is still suffering from unmet need for outpatient services, most of which emerges from its health system performance. The majority of the unmet health needs could be addressed through improving financial as well as organizational policies. Special attention is needed to address the unmet need among individuals with poor health status.


2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen K. Nkundabanyanga ◽  
Charles Omagor ◽  
Irene Nalukenge

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of the fraud triangle, Machiavellianism, academic misconduct and corporate social responsibility (CSR) proclivity of students. Design/methodology/approach – The present study surveyed 471 university students. The study was cross-sectional and employed structural equation modelling in statistical modelling. Findings – The study provides evidence that perceived opportunity to cheat in examinations is the single most important factor accounting for significant variations in rationalization and academic misconduct. Similarly, low Machiavellians significantly get inclined to CSR ideals. The fraud triangle alone accounts for 36 per cent of the variations in academic misconduct, hence the error variance is 64 per cent of academic misconduct itself. This error variance increases to 78 per cent when a combination of perceived opportunity, rationalization, Machiavellianism is considered. Moreover, both Machiavellianism and academic misconduct account for 17 per cent of variations in students’ proclivity to CSR ideals. Research limitations/implications – Results imply that creating a setting that significantly increases a student's anticipated negative affect from academic misconduct, or effectively impedes rationalization ex ante, might prevent some students from academic misconduct in the first place and then they will become good African corporate citizens. Nevertheless, although the unit of analysis was students, these were from a single university – something akin to a case study. The quantitative results should therefore be interpreted with this shortcoming in mind. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the search for predictors of academic misconduct in the African setting and as a corollary, for a theory explaining academic misconduct. Those students perceiving opportunity to cheat in examinations are also able to rationalize and hence engage in academic misconduct. This rationalization is enhanced or reduced through Machiavellianism.


2013 ◽  
Vol 79 (8) ◽  
pp. 2630-2635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel R. Knight ◽  
Sara Thean ◽  
Papanin Putsathit ◽  
Stan Fenwick ◽  
Thomas V. Riley

ABSTRACTRecent reports in North America and Europe ofClostridium difficilebeing isolated from livestock and retail meats of bovine origin have raised concerns about the risk to public health. To assess the situation in Australia, we investigated the prevalence and genetic diversity ofC. difficilein adult cattle and calves at slaughter. Carcass washings, gastrointestinal contents, and feces were collected from abattoirs across five Australian states. Selective culture, toxin profiling, and PCR ribotyping were performed. The prevalence ofC. difficilewas 56% (203/360 samples) in feces from <7-day-old calves, 3.8% (1/26) in 2- to 6-month-old calves, and 1.8% (5/280) in adult cattle. Three PCR ribotypes (RTs), RT127, RT033, and RT126, predominated in <7-day-old calves and comprised 77.8% (158/203 samples) of isolates. RT056, which has not been reported in cattle before, was found in 16 <7-day-old calves (7.7%). Surprisingly, RT078 strains, which dominate production animal carriage studies in the Northern Hemisphere, were not isolated.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document