Self-Medication Practice in Woliso Town, South West Shoa, Oromia Region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Self-medication is usually defined as intake of any type of drugs for treating oneself without professional supervision to relieve an illness. The objective of this study was to assess the practice of self-medication in Woliso town, South West Shoa, Oromia, Ethiopia. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in Woliso town and the data was collected by semi-structured questionnaire, consisting questions on general demographic, socio-economic as well as on perceived illness/symptoms in two weeks recall period and actions taken for it; and administered to respondents of the 362 systematically selected households. The collected data was screened before it had been analyzed. A total of 355 (98%) households provided response; of which 147 individuals from 103 house hold had perceived illness during the two weeks prior to the study, and of whom 61 (41.5%) used self-medication using both modern and traditional medicines. The common illnesses for which the subjects took action were: headache 58 (39.5%) and fever 49 (33.3%). Analgesic/antipyretic 52 (85.2%) was the most common medicine that was self-medicated by the respondents. Furthermore, previous experience with similar ailments 44 (53.7%) and minor illness 27 (34.9%) were the most common reason for self-medication. Drug retail outlet was the major source of modern medicine. The prevalence of self-medication was high. The major reason for self-medication was previous experience with similar ailments and drug retail outlets were the major sources of drugs that were used for self-medication. Drug authorities and health professionals need to educate the public (consumers) about the advantages and disadvantages of self-medication.

Keywords: Self-medication, drug retail outlet, practices, Woliso town

Cite this Article

Desalegn Feyissa, Eliyas Kadi Abafita. Self-Medication Practice in Woliso Town, South West Shoa, Oromia Region, Ethiopia. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Pharmaceutical Science. 2015; 6(3): 1–12p.