High prevalence of self-medication practices among medical and pharmacy students: a study from Jordan

• Published in: International journal of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics Vol. 54; no. 5; pp. 390 - 398
• Main Authors: Alkhatatbeh, Mohammad J, Alefan, Qais, Alqudah, Mohammad A Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Dustri - Verlag Dr. Karl Feistle GmbH & Co. KG 01-05-2016
• Subjects: Attitude of Health Personnel; Clinical Competence; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Jordan; Male; Medical students; Pharmacy; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Self Medication - adverse effects; Self Medication - statistics & numerical data; Self Medication - trends; Self-medication; Students; Students, Medical - statistics & numerical data; Students, Pharmacy - statistics & numerical data; Surveys and Questionnaires; Universities; Young Adult; Jordan
• ISSN: 0946-1965
• DOI: 10.5414/CP202451

To assess self-medication practices and to evaluate the impact of obtaining medical knowledge on self-medication among medical and pharmacy students at Jordan University of Science and Technology.
This was a cross-sectional study. A well-validated questionnaire that included 3 sections about self-medication was administered to the subjects after introducing the term "self-medication" verbally.
1,317 students had participated in the study and were subgrouped according to their academic level into seniors and juniors. Compared to the general population rate of 42.5%, self-medication practice was reported by (1,034, 78.5%) of the students and most common amongst pharmacy students (n = 369, 82.9%) compared to Pharm.D. (n = 357, 77.9%) and medical students (n = 308, 74.4%) (p = 0.009). There was no significant difference between juniors and seniors (557, 79.1% vs. 477, 77.8%, p = 0.59, respectively). Headache (71.2%) and common cold (56.5%) were frequent ailments that provoked self-medication. Analgesics (79.9%) and antibiotics (59.8%) were frequently used to self-treat these aliments. Reasons for self-medication included previous disease experience (55.7%); minor aliments (55.3%); and having enough medical knowledge (32.1%). Medicines were used according to instructions obtained mainly from the leaflet (28.8%); pharmacist (20.7%); and university courses (19.7%). Senior students were more aware of the risk of self-medication than junior students. The majority of students frequently advise other people about self-medication (83.6%).
Self-medication was common among students irrespective to their level of medical knowledge. Obtaining medical knowledge increased the students' awareness of the risk of self-medication which may result in practicing responsible self-medication. However, medical teaching institutions need to educate students about the proper use of medicines as a therapeutic tool.