Evaluation of irrational drug use of individuals over the age of 18 who applied to a university hospital.

Background: Irrational drug use not only causes a delay in the treatment of patients, failure to achieve full well-being, drug interactions and side effects, drug resistance but also creates economic negativities such as waste of resources and unnecessary workload. This study aims to investigate the irrational drug use behaviors of individuals over the age of 18 who applied to a university hospital.

Methods: This sectional study included 1247 people over the age of 18 who applied for Gazi University Health, Research and Application Center. A questionnaire was applied to the applicants by face-to-face interview technique. Logistic regression analysis was performed among the factors associated with the subcomponents of irrational drug use.

Results: Participants (20.1%) used medication without a doctor's prescription (self-medication), 3.4% did not comply with the recommended dose and duration for medications, 47.4% applied to the physician to prescribe the medication they wanted, 65% had medication for later use at home. It was determined that 24.1% of them used drugs without looking at the expiration date and 45.5% of them used drugs without reading the patient information leaflet. Among the risk groups identified for the different irrational drug use behaviors mentioned are the following: males, lower educational groups, housewives, not having social insurance, continuous drug users.

Discussion: Irrational drug use behaviors are still observed in society. The fact that the risk is higher in lower education groups is an example of the negative consequences of limited health literacy. The fact that different risk groups have been identified for different behaviors related to irrational drug use shows that intervention studies on this subject should be directed to specific groups. The effect of having social security reveals its connection with universal health coverage and rational drug use.