Self-medication with antibiotics in rural population in Greece: a cross-sectional multicenter study.

Background: Self-medication is an important driver of antimicrobial overuse as well as a worldwide problem. The aim of the present study was to estimate the use of antibiotics, without medical prescription, in a sample of rural population presenting in primary care in southern Greece.

Methods: The study included data from 1,139 randomly selected adults (545 men/594 women, mean age +/- SD: 56.