Self-medication with antibiotics is all the more disturbing in developing countries where this type of medication is easily available, and often without any prescription.
Objectives: The authors wanted to assess and describe self-medication with antibiotics and identify the factors and public perception associated with this type of self-medication.
Patients and methods: Eighteen private pharmacies were randomly selected in Abidjan. Data was collected through structured questionnaires and reports. Group meetings were organized for private pharmacy clients and the pharmacy staff.
Results: Two hundred and forty-two out of 1,123 purchases of antibiotics were for self-medication (21.5 %). Out of the 1,765 people interviewed, 1,054 (59.7 %) had bought antibiotics for self-medication in the 12 months prior to our study. Pharmacy staff very rarely provided any information to purchasers concerning dose, when to take the medicine, or treatment duration. A logistic regression analysis showed that the probability of self-medication with antibiotics increased with several factors: age, education level, and the possibility of purchasing antibiotics on the marketplace. However, this risk decreased when patients were covered by medical insurance, when the public perceived the risks of self-medication, and when bacterial resistance was clearly defined.
Conclusions: This study was the first in the Ivory Coast to analyze the factors involved in antibiotic self-medication. It stressed the need to establish sustainable interventions to control the antibiotic use.