Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “Self Medication”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 91 records · Page 5Linked to original sources
PubMedDate not supplied

[Self-medication and pharmacologic compliance at a primary care center].

The prevalence of reported self-medication and compliance and some associated factors in patients 25 and over years of age attending a primary health center is studied using the case finding method, during the period of March-December, 1987. Self-medication was reported by 48% of patients (41% were taking one drug and 7% two drugs). Nervous system drugs were the most common pharmacologic group over the counter. As for compliance of prescribed drugs, 81% reported to take their medication in the prescribed way at least 3 out of 4 times. Younger patients reported more self-medication. Non compliance was more frequent in members of larger families. No other statistical differences were found. We conclude that the patients in our practice report a high level of self-medication and also a high level of compliance of prescribed drugs. These data are to be taken into account for the planning of future health programs targeted to the use of drugs in our community.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Parents' attitudes to self-medication by their asthmatic children.

Parents have previously been underconsulted concerning their attitudes to asthma self-medication in the primary school. Parents have a wealth of experience to contribute to asthma care. This should be acknowledged while the child is in school. Parents' practices concerning self-medication by their child may differ from their beliefs and attitudes. Parents' recommendations or support for school practice concerning self-medication may be at variance with attitudes and practice in the home. The health-promoting school has an important role to play in encouraging self-medication and self-responsibility for health from the earliest possible age. Parents should be involved with school staff in formulating and implementing school medications policies.

Adult↗
PubMed1987

A survey of antibiotic outpatient prescribing and antibiotic self-medication.

In order to assess patterns of antibiotic prescribing and self-medication, a survey was carried out of patients from Government and private hospitals (500 each) and of 1000 apparently healthy adults in Benin City, Nigeria. Ampicillin and tetracycline were the antibiotics commonly used for self-medication; the commonest reasons given for the self-medication were the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, cough, stomach upsets and diarrhoea. Ampicillin was the commonest prescribed antibiotic; the commonest indications for prescription were soft-tissue, sexually transmitted, upper respiratory and gastro-intestinal infections. According to an assessment by four clinicians from a panel of eight in Government and private practice, 52% of the total prescriptions were judged to be appropriate whereas 30% were judged to be inappropriate by a majority of the physicians. The implications of this study for the control of bacterial resistance to antibiotics are discussed.

Anti-Bacterial Agents↗
PubMed2005

Content of home pharmacies and self-medication practices in households of pharmacy and medical students in Zagreb, Croatia: findings in 2001 with a reference to 1977.

AIM: To evaluate the content of household drug supplies and self-medication practice among medical and pharmacy students at Zagreb University in 2001, and to relate the findings to a previous survey in 1977. METHODS: A cross-sectional anonymous questionnaire-based survey included 287 students who inventoried drug supplies in their family households and interviewed the household members on drug keeping and self-medication practice. An identical methodology was used in 1977 (n=225). RESULTS: In 2001, healthcare professionals were present in 37% of the surveyed households (33% in 1977). At least one drug was found in every household. Drugs were kept at a designated place ("home pharmacy") in 68% of the households (65% in 1977). Drugs past expiry dates and/or with purpose unknown to the household members were reported in 27% of the households (32% in 1977). The most frequently found drugs were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) that were present in 97% of the households (93% in 1977), and were followed by antibiotics found in 46% of the households (40% in 1977). Self-medication of NSAIDs was practiced in 88% of the households in which they were found (95% in 1977), whereas self-medication of antibiotics was practiced in 37% of the households in which they were found (41% in 1977). CONCLUSION: Accumulation of drugs was common in the surveyed households. Self-medication of over-the-counter drugs was a routine practice, and self-medication of prescription drugs was practiced in many households. No major difference in this respect was found between the 2001 and 1977 surveys.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

[Self-medication and social-political conditions--the situation in the GDR].

Self-medication is determined by social policy decisions and controlled by the drug law in order to ensure a justifiable proportion of risk and benefit for the application of drugs licensed for self-medication. Special emphasis is put on the situation and the self-medication market in the GDR.

Germany, East↗
PubMed1998

[Self-medication profile in a city of south Brazil].

OBJECTIVE: The characterization of drug users, especially as regards self-medication and the determination of its prevalence in the population studied. MATERIAL AND METHOD: About 413 people that had used drugs in the previous month were interviewed. RESULTS: From the interviewed, 69.9% used medicines and of those 76.1% were self medicated. Headache (28.8%) was the main complaint among the self-medicated group. Acetilsalicilic acid was the most frequently used medicine (25.4%). As regards the drugs utilized, 51.2% of the users had received a recommendation from a third party and 51.7% used old prescriptions, given in previous consultations. CONCLUSION: Age, schooling and absence of periodic medical consultation were significant statistical factors in self-medication.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2026

Antibiotic Self-Medication and Public Awareness During the 2023 Gaza War: A Cross-Sectional Investigation.

BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial resistance is driven by inappropriate antibiotic use, particularly self-medication. The 2023 Gaza War disrupted healthcare services, increasing resistant infections and reliance on self-treatment practices. OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of antibiotic self-medication and assess public awareness during the 2023 Gaza War. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between May and October 2025 among adults residing in the Gaza Strip during the 2023 Gaza War. A multistage non-probability recruitment strategy, organized across predefined governorate and residential-setting strata, was used to recruit 422 participants from primary healthcare centers, community pharmacies, and displacement shelters. The questionnaire demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's &#x3b1;&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.857). Ethical approval was obtained from the relevant institutional review board, and informed consent was secured from all participants. RESULTS: The overall KAP score was moderate (67.46%), with attitudes scoring highest (74.62%), followed by knowledge (66.23%) and practices (61.52%). Reported antibiotic self-medication increased from 60.4% before the war to 80.6% during the war (p < 0.001), with significant changes in reasons for self-medication and antibiotic procurement sources. The mean antimicrobial-resistance perception score was 82.19 &#xb1; 11.10%, and knowledge was strongly correlated with the total KAP score (r&#x202f;=&#x202f;0.836, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Reported antibiotic self-medication was markedly higher during the 2023 Gaza War despite moderate public awareness, highlighting the urgent need for education, antibiotic stewardship, and improved healthcare accessibility.

Gaza War 2023↗
PubMed1999

[A quality study of self-medication in acute respiratory infection in a population utilizing an urban health center].

OBJECTIVE: To determine the quality of drugs use by patients when these were not prescribed by physicians. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey, observational. SETTING: La Victoria Health Centre in the urban area of Valladolid. PARTICIPANTS: A survey was made of all patients who consulted their family practitioner about an acute respiratory infection during a three month period. The patients were classified according to the seriousness of their diagnosis, the time elapsed before consulting the doctor, the kind of medication and the source of it was evaluated and also the quality of the prescription with relation to the source. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 508 patients were studied, 61.4% women and 38.6% men, 57.9% of the total sample were on self-medication before they went to their physician (53.6% of men and 60.6% of women). The most common source of self-medication was "self-pharmacy" in the case of 59.9% and the kind of medication most commonly taken was the antipyretic-analgesic group (in 42.9% cases). The quality evaluation of self-medication was considered correct in 63% of self-medicated patients, no significant difference was found between the quality of self-medication and the source of it. CONCLUSIONS: The high prevalence of self-medication in the general population, with the high rates of accurate use and the small percentages of adverse drug reactions, would lead us to think about of promoting self-medication and including it in specific educational health programs.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1984

Self-medication on a rehabilitation unit.

A self-medication program (SMP) has been designed and implemented as part of a multidisciplinary approach to rehabilitation. The four stages of the program, coordinated by a pharmacist, are: (1) patient assessment and introduction, (2) self-medication (SM) at the bedside, (3) SM at the nursing station, and (4) discharge assessment. Twenty-four patients, representing 52% of the patients introduced into the program, have successfully completed all stages. Severe physical impairment was not usually a deterrent to the completion of the program. All patients benefitted from the program by acquiring some skills in SM and by receiving additional motivation for improvement. The rehabilitation team received assurance that some patients could comply with their medication regimen after discharge.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed2003

The effect of control and self-medication of chronic gout in a developing country. Outcome after 10 years.

OBJECTIVE: We describe a 10 year observation of the effect of control of hyperuricemia compared with self-medication alone in patients with chronic gout. METHODS: We studied 299 consecutively self-referred Malayo-Polynesian men with chronic gout, mean age 35 +/- 14.3 SD years. Subjects comprised 228 cases with chronic gout without tophi or urolithiasis (Group 1) and 71 with those complications (Group 2). Attacks of acute gouty arthritis were treated with nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAID) and/or corticosteroids. After acute arthritis had settled, urate-lowering drugs were instituted in both groups combined with low dose colchicine and/or low dose NSAID for at least 0.5-2 years. Urate levels were maintained longterm at a mean of < 5 mg/dl. After 10 years, the dropouts were traced and evaluated for comparison with baseline and those who remained in the study. In Group 2 the urate-lowering drugs were continued. RESULTS: Control of gout and hyperuricemia was achieved in all patients who remained under control: 91.6% of the 299 patients for at least 2 years (short-term), up to 5 years in 87.5% (medium term), and up to 10 years in 79.6% (longterm). In Group 1 (chronic gout without complication) only 36.8% had no attacks during 8 years, after they had tapered urate-lowering drug after the first 2 years of the study. In the 61 dropouts the intermittent symptomatic treatment and/or self-medication without longterm control of hyperuricemia resulted after 1 decade in chronic gout with more complications and associated conditions leading to increased morbidity, disability, and comorbidity, and 3 early mortalities. CONCLUSION: By controlling hyperuricemia, improvement of the prognosis of chronic gout, comorbidity, and early death was achieved compared with self-medication alone. Self-medication in a developing country if continued unchecked may become a public health problem in a population with a high prevalence rate of gout.

Adult↗
PubMed2000

Family self-medication and antibiotics abuse for children and juveniles in a Chinese city.

To identify the determinants of self-medication and antibiotics abuse by parents treating their children aged between 2 and 18 over the previous year, an investigation was conducted in Hefei City, China in April, 1995. A total of 1596 students from a kindergarten, a primary school and a high school were included in the study, and 1459 completed questionnaires were collected (the response rate: 91.4%). The results showed the rate of parental self-medication for their children in the sample was 59.4%. It increased with children's age; about 51% of children had received parental self-medication on six or more occasions during the 1-year period and 32.8% on four to five occasions; there were associations between parental self-prescribers and sources of medicine and severity of disease. The rate of antibiotics abuse was 35.7%. Logistic regression analysis showed that there were significant associations between self-medication and payment of the mother's medical fees by employers, severity of diseases as well as the mother's educational level.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

A self-medication scheme in a post-coronary care unit.

The drug knowledge of 107 patients was determined before and after entering a self-medication scheme on the post-coronary care unit (PCCU) at City Hospital, Birmingham, and approximately 6 weeks post-discharge when these patients attended their cardiac rehabilitation classes. Fifty-two completed questionnaires were returned. The results indicated a general increase in patients knowledge about the names and side-effects of their drugs, the times at which they take them and the reasons for taking them, following self-medication. A smaller number of questionnaires (19) were completed 6 weeks after discharge. The responses to these suggested that patients who self-medicated in hospital showed greater drug knowledge, especially with regard to potential side-effects, than those who had not. Patients' confidence in their ability to self-medicate safely at home showed no relation to their actual knowledge. It is suggested that self-medication on the PCCU is an important part of the cardiac rehabilitation programme.

Coronary Care Units↗
PubMed1997

Over-the-counter availability of antimicrobial agents, self-medication and patterns of resistance in Karachi, Pakistan.

To determine whether the free availability of antimicrobial agents leads to misuse through self-medication, a house-to-house semi-structured interview was held in three different socio-economic areas of Karachi, Pakistan. Of the 2348 households visited, 1342 (57%) participated; this included 9209 individuals. Three hundred and twenty-two (3.5%) had used one or more antimicrobial in the previous 4 weeks, equivalent to 43 agents per 1000 persons per month. The most frequently used agents were amoxycillin (16.7%), co-trimoxazole (15.7%), erythromycin (10.9%), ampicillin/cloxacillin (Ampiclox, 9.1%) and metronidazole (4.5%). Of these, 91.4% were prescribed by a physician, 2.3% were advised by a chemist and 6.3% were used as self-medication. Self-medication increased with socio-economic status. High levels of resistance were found to ampicillin, co-trimoxazole, chloramphenicol and erythromycin. If these high resistance levels are related to the high frequency of antimicrobial use, over-the-counter availability cannot be held responsible. Education of the medical profession seems to be the single most important tool to control misuse of antimicrobial agents. Innovative approaches for continuous medical education are urgently needed.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

[Self-medication in a urban population of Cuernavaca, Morelos].

This work contains the results of a study on the prevalence of family drug consumption. In our country, self medication should be considered a public health problem due to the population's lack of medical education. Nevertheless, this problem has not been properly studied. For this reason, we completed an exploratory study in an urban population of Cuernavaca, Morelos, México. Its purpose was to gather information about the situation of drug consumption and self medication. A survey was given to 373 domestic groups from the Carolina neighborhood in Cuernavaca. These groups were selected through systematic and probabilistic sampling. A total of 1,537 individuals of all ages were surveyed with an average of four participants per domestic group. Thirty one per cent of those surveyed had consumed drugs during the two weeks prior to the survey. Of these consumers, 53.3 per cent did it through self medication, and 64.9 per cent of them were females. If classified by age group, the highest consumer rate, 7.6 per cent, belonged to the users between 25 to 44 years. If the classification is done by sex and age, women between 25 to 44 years consumed more antibiotics and analgesics which were obtained over the counter. Among the surveyed population, the consumption of medicines was done primarily through self medication, mostly administered by women, and most frequently consumed by infants under one year of age. This phenomenon occurred regardless of the availability and accessibility of public and private health services. The data collected do make us identify women as a fundamental element in the consumption of drugs and self medication.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adolescent↗
PubMed1989

Self-medication among secondary school pupils in Hong Kong: a descriptive study.

A self-completion questionnaire was used to survey self-medication among secondary school pupils in Hong Kong. Data were collected from 4793 pupils aged 10 to 23 years (55.9% female and 44.1% male). Nearly three quarters (72.1%) had taken self-medication without consulting a medical practitioner and 51.8% of the sample had done so without the knowledge of older family members. The prevalence of self-medication increased with age. More than half the pupils (50.4%) indicated that trivial illness did not warrant a consultation with a doctor. Information relating to the sources of self-administered drugs, types of drugs used and sources of information about these drugs was collected. Medicine cabinets at home and pharmacy shops were the two most common places from which the pupils obtained their drugs. Though the prevalence of taking tranquillizers and sleeping tablets was found to be low, the probability of young people, especially boys, obtaining dangerous drugs from these places should not be overlooked. The medical, nursing and teaching professions should take a more active role in health education, as the sources from which the pupils obtained their drug knowledge, in descending order of frequency, were: family members, previous illness experience, pharmacy shops, doctor or nurse, television or radio, newspapers or magazines, friends and teachers.

Adolescent↗
PubMed2005

Self-medication with antibiotics by a population in northern Israel.

BACKGROUND: The current study is part of a larger study--Self-Medication with Antibiotics and Resistance Levels in Europe (SAR project)--coordinated by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands and run in 19 European countries and Israel. OBJECTIVES: To estimate self-medication with antibiotics by a population in northern Israel. METHODS: We sent by post a questionnaire on antibiotic usage to 2,615 adults, both Jewish and Arab, living in northern Israel. RESULTS: The overall response rate was low (17.9%), particularly among the Arab population (9.4% of respondents). Among the 467 respondents, 169 (36.2%) reported 215 antibiotic courses within the last year. Amoxicillin was the antibiotic most commonly used (32.7% of courses); 89.4% of antibiotics were obtained via a physician's prescription; 114 respondents (24.4%) stored leftover antibiotics at home, and 81 (18.7%) would consider self-medication with antibiotics without a medical consultation. CONCLUSIONS: Over-the-counter acquisition of antibiotics is rare in Israel. However, the storage of leftover antibiotics in the home constitutes an alternative potential source of self-medication that can have untoward consequences, not only for the individual patient but also for the general population since inappropriate antibiotic usage contributes to the increasing rates of antimicrobial resistance.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1978

Comprehensive self-medication program for epileptic patients.

The establishment and operation of a comprehensive self-medication program for hospitalized epileptic patients are described. The patients in the program are required to meet established behavioral criteria during each of four stages of self-medication before progressing to the next stage. The patient has increasing responsibility in each successive phase of the program. The areas of patient involvement for the pharmacist are: (1) obtaining a medication history, (2) teaching patients about seizure medications, (3) conducting patient consultations during the self-medication program and (4) counseling the patient at discharge.

Counseling↗