European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

PREVALENCE OF SELF-MEDICATION ANTIBIOTICS AMONG MEDICAL AND NON-MEDICAL STUDENTS IN ALQUWAYIYAH, RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

Maghram Al-Amri

ABSTRACT

Background: The self-medication practice is leading to inappropriate use of antibiotics for the treatment of patients with known infections which subsequently have the suggestion for increasing treatment costs and adverse events.[2] Self-medication with antibiotics is a common practice in most countries including Saudi Arabia due to flexible drug rules & regulation one of the reasons for the increase in the antibiotic resistance of the microbes increasing in these areas. Objective: This study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of self-medication of antibiotics among medical & nonmedical students of Alquwayiyah Shaqra University of Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey on 400 students among medical & nonmedical colleges. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection. This study was conducted between the period of six months from September 2018 to March 2018.Data was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The Chi-square (χ2) test was used in determining statistically significant. A P value of <0.05 was considered as statistically significant Results: Total of 400 students, 200 (50%) medical and 200 (50%) non-medical students were considered and there was a significant difference between medical over non-medical students as far as understanding the term self-medication of antibiotics was concerned (p value 0.04). Most antibiotics for self-medication were obtained from the community pharmacy or previous prescriptions, selection of antibiotics was based majority agreed with their own experience. Saving time and money, previously resolved complains were the top two reported factors for self-medication. Conclusion: This study has shown that Students with a medical background are more aware of the pharmacological action of antibiotics comparative to the non-medical students who prefer self-medication of antibiotic during the illness because of the lack of drug knowledge. The self-medication of antibiotic in medical students found due to Drug-related knowledge gained during their studies and easy access to drugs might have encouraged their self-medication habit in Alquwayiyah, Shaqra University, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. There is a need for a review of healthcare educational programs especially the teaching of clinical pharmacology to include topics on self-medication and antibiotic resistance.

Keywords: Self-medication of Antibiotics, Medical & Nonmedical students, Drug Knowledge, Healthcare Educational Programs etc.