Prevalence And Pattern Of Abusive Self-Medication In Owerre Communities, Imo State, Nigeria

Abstract

In this study self-medication or the use of non-professionally prescribed drugs was assessed among Six hundred and two (602) respondents, comprising 383 males and 219 females sampled from Owerri zone using cluster sampling technique.   The respondents aged 18 years and above. Medications considered in this study were sleeping pills, sedatives, stimulants, painkillers, antimalaria, antibiotics, blood tonics and anti-microbes purchased or consumed in the last three months. It was a cross-sectional survey design carried out using a Prescription Drug Use Inventory. Participants were asked to rate how often they used each category of medication ranging from never to 40 times. Five hypotheses were tested. Percentages and Chi-square were used for data analyses. Many of the respondents 52.30% were between 18 and 25 years old. The prevalence of self-medication was 84.3% and showed that painkillers, anti-malarias and antibiotics were the three most used class of drugs. Age and residential area were significant factors in the prevalence of self-medication while gender was not significant. This study provides evidence in support of the provision of a prescription drugs production, distribution, sale and handling control policy in Imo State.