Faith Niwandinda, Edward John Lukyamuzi, Calvin Ainebyona, Veronica Nambi Ssebunya, Godwin Murungi, Esther C Atukunda
{"title":"乌干达姆巴拉拉科技大学学生自我药疗的模式和实践。","authors":"Faith Niwandinda, Edward John Lukyamuzi, Calvin Ainebyona, Veronica Nambi Ssebunya, Godwin Murungi, Esther C Atukunda","doi":"10.2147/IPRP.S237940","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Self-medication is drug use without advice from a medical professional. Proper self-medication can reduce health expenses and physician waiting time. However, prescription or over-the-counter drugs are considered unsafe when used irrationally. Presumably, university students can make informed decisions regarding their lives. However, there are limited studies documenting self-medication in Ugandan universities. This study sought to document the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with self-medication among students enrolled at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST).</p><p><strong>Patients and methods: </strong>A descriptive cross-sectional study was done on 385 medical and non-medical students. Data were collected by interviewer-led semi-structured questionnaires and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The statistical significance was considered as <i>p</i> < 0.05 for both univariate and multivariate analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study showed a 63.5% prevalence of self-medication. Self-medication reasons were classifying illnesses as minor (33%), time-saving (15%), having old prescriptions (11%) and high consultation fees (9%). Not self-medicating reasons included risk of using wrong drugs (19%), insufficient knowledge (17%), fear of side effects (15%), wrong drug use (15%) and misdiagnosis (14%). Respondents accessed drugs from pharmacies (56%), friends/family (17%) or private clinics (15%). Headache relievers, pain relievers and antibiotics were most commonly self-medicated. In adjusted analysis, being female, existing allergies, and being in advanced years of study were associated with increased odds of self-medication. No statistically significant difference existed between medical and non-medical students regarding self-medication. Self-medication likelihood increased with a lack of access to medical services.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>There is a high rate of self-medication amongst female students, those in advanced years of study and those with existing allergies. Medical services access significantly reduced the chances of self-medication. Vital medical services need to be extended to the university students to receive information on medicines, diagnosis, prescription and treatment. More studies should evaluate the impact of a high rate of self-medication among these students.</p>","PeriodicalId":45655,"journal":{"name":"Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":2.1000,"publicationDate":"2020-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2147/IPRP.S237940","citationCount":"21","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Patterns and Practices of Self-Medication Among Students Enrolled at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda.\",\"authors\":\"Faith Niwandinda, Edward John Lukyamuzi, Calvin Ainebyona, Veronica Nambi Ssebunya, Godwin Murungi, Esther C Atukunda\",\"doi\":\"10.2147/IPRP.S237940\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Self-medication is drug use without advice from a medical professional. Proper self-medication can reduce health expenses and physician waiting time. However, prescription or over-the-counter drugs are considered unsafe when used irrationally. Presumably, university students can make informed decisions regarding their lives. However, there are limited studies documenting self-medication in Ugandan universities. This study sought to document the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with self-medication among students enrolled at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST).</p><p><strong>Patients and methods: </strong>A descriptive cross-sectional study was done on 385 medical and non-medical students. Data were collected by interviewer-led semi-structured questionnaires and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The statistical significance was considered as <i>p</i> < 0.05 for both univariate and multivariate analyses.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>This study showed a 63.5% prevalence of self-medication. Self-medication reasons were classifying illnesses as minor (33%), time-saving (15%), having old prescriptions (11%) and high consultation fees (9%). Not self-medicating reasons included risk of using wrong drugs (19%), insufficient knowledge (17%), fear of side effects (15%), wrong drug use (15%) and misdiagnosis (14%). Respondents accessed drugs from pharmacies (56%), friends/family (17%) or private clinics (15%). Headache relievers, pain relievers and antibiotics were most commonly self-medicated. In adjusted analysis, being female, existing allergies, and being in advanced years of study were associated with increased odds of self-medication. No statistically significant difference existed between medical and non-medical students regarding self-medication. Self-medication likelihood increased with a lack of access to medical services.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>There is a high rate of self-medication amongst female students, those in advanced years of study and those with existing allergies. Medical services access significantly reduced the chances of self-medication. Vital medical services need to be extended to the university students to receive information on medicines, diagnosis, prescription and treatment. More studies should evaluate the impact of a high rate of self-medication among these students.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":45655,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.1000,\"publicationDate\":\"2020-02-13\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://sci-hub-pdf.com/10.2147/IPRP.S237940\",\"citationCount\":\"21\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.2147/IPRP.S237940\",\"RegionNum\":0,\"RegionCategory\":null,\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"2020/1/1 0:00:00\",\"PubModel\":\"eCollection\",\"JCR\":\"Q3\",\"JCRName\":\"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Integrated Pharmacy Research and Practice","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.2147/IPRP.S237940","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"2020/1/1 0:00:00","PubModel":"eCollection","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"PHARMACOLOGY & PHARMACY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Patterns and Practices of Self-Medication Among Students Enrolled at Mbarara University of Science and Technology in Uganda.
Purpose: Self-medication is drug use without advice from a medical professional. Proper self-medication can reduce health expenses and physician waiting time. However, prescription or over-the-counter drugs are considered unsafe when used irrationally. Presumably, university students can make informed decisions regarding their lives. However, there are limited studies documenting self-medication in Ugandan universities. This study sought to document the prevalence, patterns and factors associated with self-medication among students enrolled at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST).
Patients and methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done on 385 medical and non-medical students. Data were collected by interviewer-led semi-structured questionnaires and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. The statistical significance was considered as p < 0.05 for both univariate and multivariate analyses.
Results: This study showed a 63.5% prevalence of self-medication. Self-medication reasons were classifying illnesses as minor (33%), time-saving (15%), having old prescriptions (11%) and high consultation fees (9%). Not self-medicating reasons included risk of using wrong drugs (19%), insufficient knowledge (17%), fear of side effects (15%), wrong drug use (15%) and misdiagnosis (14%). Respondents accessed drugs from pharmacies (56%), friends/family (17%) or private clinics (15%). Headache relievers, pain relievers and antibiotics were most commonly self-medicated. In adjusted analysis, being female, existing allergies, and being in advanced years of study were associated with increased odds of self-medication. No statistically significant difference existed between medical and non-medical students regarding self-medication. Self-medication likelihood increased with a lack of access to medical services.
Conclusion: There is a high rate of self-medication amongst female students, those in advanced years of study and those with existing allergies. Medical services access significantly reduced the chances of self-medication. Vital medical services need to be extended to the university students to receive information on medicines, diagnosis, prescription and treatment. More studies should evaluate the impact of a high rate of self-medication among these students.