Self-Medication Practice and Associated Factors Among Health Professionals at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Study Participants from the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Gondar, Ethiopia, 2019 (n=412)

Variable	Categories	Total N	Self-Medicating N (%)	Not Self-Medicating N (%)	Statistical Tests
Sex	Female	192	98 (51)	94 (49)	X^2=1.849, p=0.174
	Male	220	127 (57.7)	93 (42.3)
Age in years	20–25	69	32 (46.4)	37 (53.6)	X^2=5.058, p=0.168
	26–28	133	71 (53.4)	62 (46.6)
	29–31	91	58 (63.7)	33 (36.3)
	32–60	119	64(53.8)	55(46.2)
Martial status	Married	226	125 (55.3)	101 (44.7)	X^2=0.098, p=0.754
	Unmarried	186	100 (53.8)	86 (46.2)
Education level	Diploma	26	15 (57.7)	11 (42.3)	X^2=3.138, p=0.208
	Bachelor degree	339	190 (56)	149 (44)
	Masters and above	47	20 (42.6)	27 (57.4)
Work experience in years	<4	142	76 (53.5)	66 (46.5)	X^2=1.443, p=0.486
	4–7	166	87 (52.4)	79 (47.6)
	8 and above	104	62 (59.6)	42 (40.4)
Profession	Nurse	196	99 (50.5)	97 (49.5)	X^2=19.104, p=0.001
	Pharmacy	112	79 (70.5)	33 (29.5)
	Medicine	18	11 (61.1)	7 (38.9)
	Midwifery	69	30 (43.5)	39 (56.5)
	Laboratory	17	6 (35.3)	11 (64.7)
Working hours per week	30–38	45	31 (68.9)	14 (31.1)	X^2=9.722, p=0.021
	39–43	161	96 (59.6)	65 (40.4)
	44–55	97	48 (49.5)	49 (50.5)
	56–110	109	50 (45.9)	59 (54.1)
Work load out of work	Very low	51	29 (56.9)	22 (43.1)	X^2=7.817, p=0.050
	Low	84	38 (45.2)	46 (54.8)
	Medium	160	83 (51.9)	77 (48.1)
	High	117	75 (64.1)	42 (35.9)
Average number of patients contacted per day	4–9	100	47 (47)	53 (53)	X^2=7.869, p=0.049
	10–14	85	45 (52.9)	40 (47.1)
	15–29	59	28 (47.5)	31 (52.5)
	30–32	168	105 (62.5)	63 (37.5)
Work load	Very low	32	18 (56.3)	14 (43.7)	X^2=4.60, p=0.204
	Low	43	17 (39.5)	26 (60.5)
	Medium	165	91 (55.2)	74 (44.8)
	High	172	99 (57.6)	73 (42.4)

Table 2 Self-Medication Practice and Related Characteristics Among Health Professionals at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019 (n=412)

Variables	Categories	Frequency	Percent (%)
Do you know the OTC drugs classification?	Yes	311	75.5
	No	101	24.5
Ever taken antibiotics	Yes	343	83.3
	No	69	16.7
Used antibiotics within last year	Yes	183	44.4
	No	229	55.6
Knowledge	Good	233	56.6
	Poor	197	43.4
Attitude	Good	263	63.8
	Poor	149	36.2
Practice	Use self medication	225	54.6
	No self medication	187	45.4
Reasons for SM	Non seriousness of illness	138	61.3
	Emergency use	124	55.1
	To save time	70	31.1
	Quick relief	54	24
	Cost effectiveness	33	14.6
	Prior experience	55	13.3
	Easy and convenient	28	12.4
	Lack of trust in prescribing drugs	7	3.2
Drugs frequently used	Antipain	176	78.4
	Antiulcer	59	26.5
	Antibacterial	52	23.3
	CV drugs	4	1.8
	Others	5	2.2
Diseases most frequently encountered when choosing to use SM	Headache	151	67.2
	Fever	111	49.5
	Common cold	110	48.8
	Cough	70	31.1
	Gastric pain	61	27.4
	Diarrhea	51	22.6
	Constipation	39	17.5
	Vomiting	30	13.3
	Chest pain	16	7

Table 3 Associated Factors of SM Practice Among Health Professionals at the University of Gondar Comprehensive Specialized Hospital, Gondar, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019 (n=412)

Variables	Categories	Self-Medication Practice		COR (95% UI)	AOR (95% UI)
		Yes (%)	No (%)
Sex	Female	98 (43.6)	94 (50.3)	1	1
	Male	127 (56.4)	93 (49.7)	1.31 (0.89,1.93)	1.45 (0.95,2.15)
Department	Nurse	99 (44.0)	97 (51.9)	0.43 (0.26,0.70)	0.61 (0.33,1.13)
	Pharmacy	79 (35.1)	33 (17.6)	0.65 (0.24,1.75)	0.59 (0.21,1.65)
	Medicine	11 (4.9)	7 (3.7)	1.33 (0.76,2.30)	1.68 (0.93,3.07)
	Midwifery	30 (13.3)	39 (20.9)	1.87 (0.67,5.26)	1.84 (0.62,5.49)
	Laboratory	6 (2.7)	11 (5.9)	1	1
Years after last graduation	<3	65 (28.9)	36 (19.3)	1.7 (1.07,2.71)	1.67 (1.01,2.76)*
	≥3	160 (71.1)	151 (80.7)	1	1
Working hours per week	0–38	31 (13.8)	14 (7.5)	1.50 (0.74,3.04)	1.51 (0.72,3.26)
	39–43	96 (42.7)	65 (34.8)	2.26 (1.07,4.77)	2.26 (0.98,5.18)
	44–55	48 (21.3)	49 (26.2)	2.61 (1.25,5.45)	2.44 (1.07,5.57)*
	56–110	50 (22.2)	59 (31.6)	1	1
Average number of patients contacted per day	4–9	47 (20.9)	53 (28.3)	1	1
	10–14	45 (20.0)	40 (21.4)	1.88 (1.14,3.10)	1.43 (0.81,2.54)
	15–29	28 (12.4)	31 (16.6)	1.48 (0.87,2.51)	1.20 (0.64,2.25)
	30–200	105 (46.7)	63 (33.7)	1.85 (1.01,3.36)	1.60 (0.80,3.18)
Work load	None	18 (8.0)	14 (7.5)	1	1
	Low	17 (7.6)	26 (13.9)	1.06 (0.49,2.26)	0.92 (0.39,2.14)
	Medium	91 (40.4)	74 (39.6)	2.07 (1.05,4.10)	1.81 (0.87,3.78)
	High	99 (44.0)	73 (39.0)	1.10 (0.72,1.70)	1.00 (0.63,1.59)
Knowledge on OTC classification of drugs	Yes	181 (80.4)	130 (69.5)	1.80 (1.15,2.84)	1.75 (1.03,2.99)*
	No	44 (19.6)	57 (30.5)	1	1
Ever taken antibiotics	Yes	196 (87.1)	147 (78.6)	1.84 (1.09,3.11)	1.39 (0.76,2.56)
	No	29 (12.9)	40 (21.4)	1	1

Notes: Hosmer and Lemeshow goodness of fit p=0.391, *p<0.05.

Abbreviations: OTC, over-the-couner; UI, uncertainty interval; COR, crude odds ratio; AOR, adjusted odds ratio.