Self-medication practices in Mekelle, Ethiopia.

Background: Self-medication makes consumers more health conscious, reduces treatment burden on healthcare facilities and curtails the cost and time of obtaining access to treatment. However, it increases risks such as drug resistance, adverse drug reactions, incorrect diagnosis, drug interactions and polypharmacy. The purpose of this study was to assess the practices and factors associated with self-medication in Mekelle, Tigray region, Ethiopia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in Mekelle from February to March 2013. A structured and pre-tested questionnaire was used for data collection to assess self-medication practices. Data were analyzed using of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0.

Results: Among self-medicated study participants, 199(73.7%) were males and 71(26.3%) were females with mean age of 28.65 years. The most frequently reported illnesses or symptoms of illnesses that prompted self-medication of study participants were headache/fever (20.7%), gastrointestinal diseases (17.3%) and respiratory tract infections (15.9%) with the main reasons being mildness of the disease, prior experience and less expensive. The majority of drug consumers made their requests by telling their symptoms, by mentioning specific names of the drugs and by showing old samples. Analgesics/antipyretics, gastrointestinal drugs, respiratory drugs and oral rehydration salt were the most frequently requested categories of drugs. Pharmacists followed by other healthcare providers were the most frequently reported source of drug information for self-medication.

Conclusions: The results of this study demonstrated that self-medication practices were common for a wide range of illnesses. Health professionals, especially community pharmacists need to educate people on the benefits and risks of self-medication to encourage responsible self-medication.