Self-Medication Phenomenon; A Population Based Study from Lahore.

OBJECTIVE

To study the reasons of self-medication in rural and urban population..

METHODS

The cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan, from March to August 2017, and comprised inhabitants of rural and urban areas of the city regardless of gender and aged 18-50 years. The subjects were enrolled using non probability convenience sampling technique. Data was collected using a semi-structured questionnaire, which was validated through content validity index. Data was analysed using SPSS 21.

RESULTS

Of the 786 participants, 551(70%) were from the urban areas and 235(30%) were from the rural areas. The mean age of the sample was 30.54±8.50. Overall, 746(95%) were taking medicines without a prescription. Among them, 528(96%) were urban and 218(93%) were rural inhabitants (p<0.07). Besides, 352(47.2%) were males and 394(52.8%) were females (p>0.05). The most frequent reason cited for self-medication was quick relief by 478(64.1%) subjects.

CONCLUSIONS

Self-medication prevalence was very high in both urban and rural populations.