European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

KNOWLEDGE AND SELF-REPORTED EFFECTS OF SELF-MEDICATION WITH PAIN RELIEVERS IN OPOKUMA COMMUNITY IN BAYELSA STATE, NIGERIA

*Owonaro P.A. and Eniojukan J.F.

ABSTRACT

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) remain the cornerstone of pain management. Most are available as over-the-counter drugs and are associated with varying degrees of adverse effects. This study evaluated the knowledge and self-reported effects of self-medication with pain killers among residents of Opokuma clan of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. 254 questionnaires formulated to retrieve relevant demographic and other drug use data were administered randomly to respondents that consented after carefully explaining the objectives of the study. Data was analysed with SPSS version 20. Majority (61%) of respondents were females; 89.4% were aged 18-45 years; 61% had secondary education; 96.5% were Christian; 43.7% were workers; 65.4% had very adequate knowledge of side-effects of NSAIDs; 53.5% had very good knowledge of the dose of the pain reliever they were taking; 68.5% respectively had no knowledge on whether pain-killers can be taken along with alcohol or on empty stomach; 52.8% and 42.5% respectively had average and no knowledge on the use of pain killers simultaneously with antacids; 44.9% and 39.0% respectively had very good and average knowledge of the use of pain killers with food; about half (48.8%) had average knowledge of how frequently pain killers should be taken; over 90% reported that most pain killers were very effective; all users of Arthocare found it non-effective; reasons adduced for ineffectiveness of pain killers were being adulterated (38.3%), expired (25.8%), due to poor compliance (23.4%) or use of low doses (12.5%); over 80% always or sometimes visited the hospital or community pharmacy whenever they had pains; 83.1% recorded a high level of positive health seeking behavior. Less than 10% of respondents always experienced any form of side-effects; over 50% never experienced any form of side-effects; 46.5% and 40.6% respectively sometimes had heart burns and chest pains; 38.2%, 37.0% and 30.3% sometimes experienced sweating, blood in stool and stomach pains respectively; 29.1% sometimes had body swelling; over 80% always or sometimes reported the side-effects to the doctor, nurse or pharmacist; Gender, marital status, education and occupation were correlated with knowledge of pain killers but age was not. There is a need to upgrade the knowledge of the people in this community on appropriate health-seeking behaviour and rational use of pain-killers in order to avert the looming advent of severe acute and chronic adverse effects relating to NSAIDs use.

Keywords: Pain killers, NSAIDs, Community, Prevalence, Patterns, Nigeria.