Self-Medication and Associated Factors Among Pregnant Women in Rural Ethiopia: The Importance of Husband Education in Ensuring a Safe Pregnancy

Figures & data

Table 1 Calculation of Sample Size for the Main Factors Associated with Self-Medication Practice Among Pregnant Women on Epi Info-7, 2021

Variable	Reference	% of Outcome Among Unexposed	AOR	Power	CI	Total Sample Size
Respondent’s age(younger)	[19]	3.5	0.0078	80	95%	275
Previous Self-medication (Yes)	[17]	13.4	4.2	80	95%	317
Educational level (Lower)	[38]	18	8.2	80	95%	209
Knowledge about risk of self-medication (Good knowledge)	[17]	33.4	0.64	80	95%	200

Abbreviations: AOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

Figure 1 Diagrammatic presentation of the sampling procedure for the study to determine the prevalence of self-medication practice and associated factors among pregnant women in the study area.

Table 2 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Pregnant Women Attending Selected Public Health Institutions in Southwest Shewa, Ethiopia, 2021

Variables	Categories	Frequency (n= 585)	Percentage
Age(years)	18–20	48	8.2
	21–30	434	74.1
	31–40	100	17
	>40	3	0.5
Occupation	Housewife	50	8.5
	Government Employee	24	4.1
	Merchant	171	29.2
	Farmer	328	56
	Others	12	1.8
Religion	Orthodox	134	22.9
	Muslim	163	27.8
	Protestant	288	49.3
Ethnicity	Oromo	541	92.5
	Amhara	44	7.5
Marital status	Married	580	99.1
	Others	5	0.9
Mothers level of education	Unable to read and write	99	16.9
	Can read and write	39	6.7
	Primary education	234	40
	Secondary education and above	213	36.4
Husband’s educational level	Unable to read and write	57	9.7
	Can read and write	25	4.3
	Primary education	224	38.3
	Secondary education and above	278	47.5
Annual income in Ethiopian Birr	<6000	76	13
	6000–12,000	34	5.8
	12,001–18,000	249	42.6
	18,001–24,000	126	215
	>24,000	100	17.1
Parity(number of children previously had)	No (Primigravida)	62	10.6
	1–3 children	115	19.6
	≥4 children	408	69.7

Table 3 Obstetric Characteristics of Pregnant Women Attending Selected Public Health Institutions of Rural Southwest Shoa, Ethiopia, 2021

Variables	Categories	Frequency (n= 585)	Percentage
Knowing her gestational age	Yes	459	78.4
	No	126	21.6
Trimester	First trimester	181	31.0
	Second trimester	333	56.9
	Third trimester	71	12.1
Number of antenatal care visit	<4 times	254	43.4
	≥4 times	331	56.6
Pregnancy status	Planned	336	57.4
	Unplanned	249	42.6
Use of a left over prescription drug	Yes	20	3.4
	No	565	96.6
Source of drug	Local shop	4	0.7
	Private pharmacy	133	22.7
	Public health institutions	443	75.7
	Friends and neighbours	5	0.9
Knowing risk of the drug	Yes	178	30.4
	No	407	69.6
Walking distance to the nearest health facility	< 1 hour	384	65.7
	1–2 hours	171	29.2
	>2 hours	30	5.1
Exposure to drug advertising	Yes	2	0.4
	No	583	99.6
Perceived cost of the drug	Cheap	4	0.7
	Medium	558	95.4
	Expensive	23	3.9

Table 4 Cross Tabulation of Self-Medication Practice and Associated Factors Among Rural Pregnant Women in Southwest Shewa, Ethiopia, 2021

Variables	Variable Categories	Frequency (n= 585)	Percentage
Age category of mothers practicing self-medication	21–30 Years	72	62.0
	Other age categories	44	38.0
Who enforced her for self-medication	Husband	87	75
	Close friend	20	17.2
	Neighbour	9	7.8
Reasons of practicing self-medication	Pregnancy related discomforts	66	56.9
	Unwanted pregnancy	26	22.4
	Previous experience about the drug	6	5.2
	Family pressure	3	2.6
	Easy access to the drugs	15	12.9
Awareness on risk of self-medication during pregnancy	Yes	2	1.5
	No	114	98.5
Pregnancy status	Planned	27	23.3
	Unplanned	89	76.7
Educational status of mothers practicing self-medication	Primary education and below	79	68.1
	Secondary education and above	37	31.9
Marital status of mothers practicing self-medication	Married	114	98.3
	Unmarried	2	1.7

Table 5 Significantly Associated Variables in Multivariable Analysis of Self-Medication Among Pregnant Women in Public Health Institutions, Rural Southwest Shewa, 2021

Independent Variables	Variable Categories	Self-Medication		COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)	p-value
		Yes (n=116)	No (n=469)
Husband’s educational level	Unable to read and write	17	40	4.76 (1.3–11.6)	3.6 (1.02–12.9)	0.04*
	Can read and write	7	18	3.6 (1.004–12.8)	1.7 (0.4–7.9)	0.52
	Primary education	45	179	2.313 (0.869–6.157)	1.5 (0.5–4.3)	0.49
	Secondary and above	47	232	Reference	Reference
Number of children	First pregnancy	18	44	1.704 (0.934–3.107)	2.7 (1.2–6.1)	0.01*
	1–3 children	19	96	0.824 (0.476–1.429)	0.7 (0.4–1.5)	0.37
	>3 children	79	329	Reference	Reference
Knowing gestational age	Yes	83	376	0.622 (0.392–0.988)	0.5 (0.3–0.9)	0.03*
	No	33	93	Reference	Reference
Distance to reach nearest Health facility	<30 minutes	65	319	0.233 (0.108–0.501)	0.23 (0.08–0.60)	0.03*
	30 minutes to 1 hour	37	134	0.316 (0.141–0.705)	0.23 (0.08–0.63)	0.04*
	>1 hour	14	16	Reference	Reference

Note: *Significant association.

Abbreviations: COR, crude odds ratio; AOR, adjusted odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.

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