Assessment of self-medication status among international students in different universities in Pakistan; a cue to the rational use of medicines: a cross-sectional study

Background: Self-medication is a global phenomenon that can lead to adverse consequences. This study was conducted to assess the self-medication status among international students in Pakistan so that rational use of medicines (RUM) can be assured with effective interventions. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional survey was conducted among 317 international students in different universities in Pakistan. The original Bloom’s cutoff point was utilized to categorize the participants’ overall knowledge, attitude, and practice. The χ2 test was used to test for group differences. For binary logistic regression analyses, the odds ratio (OR) was calculated at 95% CI. Spearman rank correlation coefficient test was used to assess the relationships among the knowledge, attitude, and/or practice scores. Results: The participants demonstrated overall good knowledge (85.5%), positive attitude (83.9%), and good practice (78.5%) towards self-medication. None of the demographic parameters were found statistically significant with knowledge, attitude, and practice about self-medication. The participants with good knowledge and positive attitude had more than 7 and 30 times high odds of good practice (OR: 7.97, 95% CI: 4.06–15.65, P < 0.001 and OR: 30.91, 95% CI: 14.26–67.00, P < 0.001) than those without good knowledge and positive attitude, respectively. Conclusion: Good knowledge, positive attitude, and good practice towards self-medication show the value of education and awareness towards RUM. The interventions to halt the irrational practice of self-medication, expanding awareness, and executing legislation to upgrade the judicious use of self-medication practices are indicated for the RUM at the national level.