Self-medication practice among final year students of a governmental university: a comparison between medical and non-medical students
ntroduction: Self-medication is defined as any usage of the medications without having any proper diagnosis, consultation and prescription from a healthcare practitioner. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and pattern of selfmedication among undergraduate final year students,...
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| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en |
| Published: |
2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://irep.iium.edu.my/84539/1/84539_Self-medication%20practice%20among.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/84539/ https://www.jpbsonline.org/article.asp?issn=0975-7406;year=2020;volume=12;issue=6;spage=852;epage=934;aulast= |
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| Summary: | ntroduction: Self-medication is defined as any usage of the medications without having
any proper diagnosis, consultation and prescription from a healthcare
practitioner. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and pattern of selfmedication among undergraduate final year students, and to compare the prevalence and
pattern of self-medication between medical and non-medical final year students. Method: A
cross-sectional study was conducted among final year students (4 medical programmes and
1 non-medical programme) from International Islamic University Malaysia, Kuantan Campus.
A pre-validated questionnaire was distributed to 300 students in October 2016. Chi-square
test was used to compare between medical and non-medical students. Results: 225
medical and 63 non-medical students (science programme students) answered the
questionnaire. The mean age was 23.23 0.733 years. More than half of the participants
(61%) practiced self-medication with no significant difference between medical and nonmedical students (60.9% Vs 61.9%; P = 0.884). The most common reasons of selfmedication in both groups was “a previous experience with similar problem”; with fever being
the most self-treated condition followed by flu/cold. The majority of both groups (89.9%;
92.1%) acknowledged the necessity of consulting a certified medical practitioner before
taking any medications. However, only 69.3% of the non-medical students believed that selfmedication could be harmful compared with 89.3% of the medical students (P <
0.001). Conclusion: The prevalence of self-medication practice among medical and nonmedical students was high and there was also a lack of awareness about its harm among non-medical students. |
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