Evaluation of knowledge and attitude toward self-medication among general population in Omdurman City, Sudan: A descriptive community-based study.

Abstract

Introduction: Self-care, including self-medication, has become increasingly important in modern healthcare. Many studies revealed the unacceptable knowledge level regarding self-medication. In Sudan, there is a necessity to study this phenomenon, as there are no data that describes Knowledge and attitude toward self-medication among Omdurman citizens.

Methods: A cross-sectional, descriptive community-based study design targeted adult people living in Omdurman city and agreed to be part of the study were included. Data were collected using a pre-tested self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program (version. 26) and Microsoft Excel (version 10). Results were considered significant at P value less than 0.05.

Results: More than half of the participants (59.6%) were males, 41.6% of them were aged 17-25 years, and about three-quarters (73.7%) were university graduates. 56.9% of the participants were found to have moderate level of knowledge regarding self-medication and 58.6% of them showed negative attitude. Level of education and occupation were found to have a statistically significant relationship to participants knowledge regarding self-medication (p < 0.01 and 0.04) respectively, while gender, age, and level of education were found to be significantly associated with participants' attitude level (p = 0.017, 0.010, <0.01) respectively.

Conclusion: The majority of participants in Omdurman city possess a moderate level of knowledge and generally hold negative attitudes toward self-medication. Participants' educational level was found to affect their knowledge and attitude highlighting the critical role of education in enhancing public awareness and shaping responsible self-medication practice.