January 2017 Vol. 5 No.1

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Original Research Article

Irresponsible Self-medication: A Common problem in northern area of Saudi Arabia

Mohamed Mousa Abd El-Mawgod^1*, Nagah M. Aboel-Fetoh², Najood Rahim Alenazi³ and Jawaher M. Alenazi⁴

¹Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Azhar University, Assiut, Egypt
²Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt
^3,4Faculty of Medicine, Northern Border University, KSA

*Corresponding Author’s E-mail: mossa20072006@yahoo.com

Accepted October 10, 2016

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Self‑medication with over‑the‑counter (OTC) remedies is a common practice in both developed and developing countries. Self-medication can be defined as the use of drugs to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, or the intermittent or continued use of a prescribed drug for chronic or recurrent disease or symptoms.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication practice among people in Arar city, Saudi Arabia.
METHODS: This community-based, cross-sectional survey carried out in   Arar city, the capital of Northern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), to explore  self-medication behavior among the general population. Five community pharmacies were selected using cluster random sampling in order to   represent the 5 geographical areas of Arar city (north, east, south, west and centre). In each community pharmacy, a sample of adult population (18–65 years) was selected using systematic random sampling. A total of 243 respondents attending 5 randomly selected pharmacies in Arar- KSA were interviewed in private over 2 months (November and December, 2015).
RESULTS: The results indicated that 53.9% of the respondents had practiced self-medication practice most of them 72(55.0%) purchased non-prescribed drugs more than 6 times within the previous 6 months. The source of information for self-medications was the pharmacist 53 (40.5%), the physician 21(16.0%) and friends 17(13.0%).
CONCLUSION: Irresponsible self-medication is common in Saudi Arabia. Future studies should focus on improving the consumers’ awareness of self-medication and the proper use of medications.

Keywords: Community Pharmacy, Self-medication, Over-the-counter medication