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- Title
Self-prescribed Analgesics among Medical Students.
- Authors
Awad, Khadija; Ramadan, Iman K.; Bahlas, Rawya; Abdrabu, Salimah; Ghamri, Rania Alawy; Alzahrani, Samy
- Abstract
Introduction: Non-medical use of medications is defined as the use of treatment for disorders which are selfdiagnosed. There are multiple factors which could shape such use such as; age, education, family, and society. The current study was conducted in order to assess prevalence of non-medical use of analgesics and to investigate potential risk factors of self-prescribed analgesics among medical students of Al-Azhar University. Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out during the period from March to May 2016 in Al-Azhar University using a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire was circulated and accomplished by 1,097 medical students attending two faculties of medicine (Faculty of Medicine for Boys and Faculty of Medicine for Girls) in Cairo, Egypt. Data were analyzed using STATA version 13. A multiple logistic regression model was built to investigate potential covariates of self-medication. Results: Self-prescription of analgesics in the previous 6 months was 68.92% of medical students, and it was more prevalent among female students (70.69%). Analgesic use in the previous six months was: one time in 66.80% of medical students, twice in 14.95%, three times in 10.71% and more than three times in 7.54% of the medical students. Of all the medical students, 23.52% reported headache as the problem while around 12.00% claimed bone and tooth aches as the main causes of their self-prescribed analgesics. The more likely used basic knowledge for self-prescribed analgesics were friends and families' recommendations (42.0%), formerly used analgesics (12.4%), their own basic knowledge (6.9%) and a pharmacist suggestion (4.0%). Regarding the independent predictors of non-medical usage of analgesics, older students were1.2 times more likely to experience non-medical use. Also, compared to female students, males were 1.29 times more likely to engage in non-medical use. In general, the results revealed that students with co-morbidities were 1.95 times more likely to practice nonmedical use of analgesics. Conclusion: Self-prescribed analgesics has expanded among medical students in (Al-Azhar University). This might be an alarming signal for policy makers of the Egyptian community. Insufficient information about analgesics, draws attention to the magnitude of training courses and education over the social media.
- Publication
Electronic Physician, 2017, Vol 9, Issue 1, p3475
- ISSN
2008-5842
- Publication type
Academic Journal
- DOI
10.19082/3475