ASSESSMENT OF SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICES AMONG STUDENTS OF A TERTIARY INSTITUTION IN NORTH-EASTERN NIGERIA

*Olayemi Jumoke Oguntokun, Noel Nen'man Wannang and Olayinka Olabode Ogunleye

ABSTRACT

Assessment of self-medication practices was done among students of Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, North-Eastern Nigeria to describe their practices of self- medication and identify areas where interventions could be provided. Questionnaire with both closed and open ended questions was administered to 400 students using convenient sampling method. The questions covered prevalence, practice, reasons, sources of information, sources of drug, classes of drug and presumed illnesses and symptoms for self-medication. The data was analyzed using SPSS 20.0 for descriptive statistics. Presumed symptoms and diseases for self-medication included pains (18.75%) and malaria (28.72% while the most used classes of medication were analgesic (48.3%), antibiotics (23.9%) and antimalarial (19.6%). The commonest reasons for self-medication were consideration of illness as being minor (18.3%) and low cost (17.3%). Relatives, friends and family (21.5%) were the highest sources of information for self-medication followed by health workers (17.8%) while the highest source of drug was patient medicine dealers (37.5%). The study revealed strong influence of community in the practice of self-medication and use of prescription drugs for self-medication thus requiring interventional measures to promote responsible practice of self-medication.

Keywords: Self-medication, Students, Prevalence, Practice.