Assessment of self-medication practices in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak in Togo

To date, there is no effective treatment for COVID-19, which is a pandemic disease, caused by a novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. In Togo, where four in five people practice self-medication, the absence of a cure for COVID-19 and the constant progression of the disease requires an assessment of s...

Full description

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Published in:	BMC public health Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 58
Main Authors:	Sadio, Arnold J, Gbeasor-Komlanvi, Fifonsi A, Konu, Rodion Y, Bakoubayi, Akila W, Tchankoni, Martin K, Bitty-Anderson, Alexandra M, Gomez, Iris M, Denadou, Claudia P, Anani, Joël, Kouanfack, Harold R, Kpeto, Innocent K, Salou, Mounerou, Ekouevi, Didier K
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	England BioMed Central Ltd 06-01-2021 BioMed Central BMC
Subjects:	Adult Air transportation Aircraft Antibiotics Ascorbic acid Chloroquine Context Control Coronaviruses COVID-19 COVID-19 - epidemiology COVID-19 - prevention & control Cross-Sectional Studies Digital media Disease Outbreaks Drug stores Drugs Education Epidemics Female Forecasts and trends Humans Hydroxychloroquine Informal economy Life Sciences Lomé-Togo Male Pandemics Police Prevention Professionals Public health Questionnaires Road transportation Sample size SARS-CoV-2 Self medication Self Medication - statistics & numerical data Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Sociodemographics Togo Togo - epidemiology Traditional medicine Transportation industry Variables Viral diseases Togo United States > US Africa COVID-19 Prevention SARS-CoV-2 Traditional medicine Self-medication Lomé-Togo
Online Access:	Get full text
Tags:	Add Tag No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!

Description
Summary:	To date, there is no effective treatment for COVID-19, which is a pandemic disease, caused by a novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. In Togo, where four in five people practice self-medication, the absence of a cure for COVID-19 and the constant progression of the disease requires an assessment of self-medication patterns in the context of the pandemic. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of self-medication to prevent COVID-19 and its associated factors in Lomé, Togo. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Lomé, the capital city of Togo, from April 23rd to May 8th, 2020, with a sample of participants from five sectors: the healthcare, air transport, police, road transport and informal sectors. The participants were invited to provide information about their self-medication practices to prevent COVID-19 in the 2 weeks preceding the survey. A total of 955 participants (71.6% men) with a median age of 36 (IQR 32-43) were included. Approximately 22.1% were in the air transport sector, 20.5% were in the police sector, and 38.7% were in the health sector. The overall prevalence of self-medication to prevent COVID-19 was 34.2% (95% CI: 31.2-37.3%). The most commonly used products were vitamin C (27.6%) and traditional medicine (10.2%). Only 2.0% of participants reported using chloroquine/hydroxychloroquine. Female sex (aOR=1.90; p< 0.001), work in the health sector (aOR=1.89; p= 0.001), secondary education level (aOR= 2.28; p= 0.043) and university education level (aOR= 5.11; p< 0.001) were associated with self-medication. One-third of the individuals in high-risk populations in Lomé practiced self-medication. Intensifying awareness campaigns is crucial to fight misinformation about alleged COVID-19 prevention products on social media.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 PMCID: PMC7787400
ISSN:	1471-2458 1471-2458
DOI:	10.1186/s12889-020-10145-1