The Prevalence and Affecting Factors on Self-Medication Among Students of Kermanshah University of Medical Science in 2014

Introduction: Self-medication is an increasingly growing health problem, which has many adverse effects on human and the cost used in the production of medications.

Aim: The current study was conducted to estimate the prevalence of self-medication among student of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences in 2014.

Materials and methods: In a descriptive-cross-sectional study, 364 students of Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences were recruited through stratified random sampling method. Data collection was done by researcher-made questionnaire, entered to SPSS22 software and analysed by descriptive and inferential statistics.

Results: Of the 364 students, prevalence of self-medication was 123 (33.7%) the mean age was 21.63±1.92, among them 64.2% took the medication from the pharmacy and 34.95% have faced complications of self-medication. The main cause of self-medication among students were the history of a disease of taking medication (44.71%), deemed no importance of the disease (34.95%), and easy accessibility of the medication (20.32%).

Conclusion: With regard to the high prevalence of self-medication among the students, it is suggested to provide educational programs on the adverse effects of self-medication, and appropriate measures to control and prevent easy access to the medications.