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- Title
Self-medication with drugs and complementary and alternative medicines in Alexandria, Egypt: prevalence, patterns and determinants.
- Authors
El-Nimr, N. A.; Wahdan, I. M. H.; Wahdan, A. M. H.; Kotb, R. E.
- Abstract
This study aimed to describe the prevalence, pattern and reasons for self-medication among adults in Alexandria, Egypt. In a community-based survey during 2012, a representative sample of 1100 adults completed a predesigned interview questionnaire on self-medication practices by drugs and complementary or alternative medicines (CAM). A majority of them practised self-medication (86.4%), mostly using both drugs and CAM (77.5%). The most commonly used drugs were analgesics (96.7%), and cough and cold preparations (81.9%), but 53.9% of respondents reported self-medication with antibiotics. The most frequently used CAM were herbs (91.6%), followed by spiritual healing (9.4%) and cupping and acupuncture (6.4%). CAM improved the condition according to 95.2% of users. Logistic regression analysis revealed that age, occupation and the presence of chronic conditions were the independent factors significantly affecting the practice of self-medication with drugs.
- Subjects
EGYPT; ALTERNATIVE medicine; STATISTICAL correlation; INTERVIEWING; QUESTIONNAIRES; SELF medication; T-test (Statistics); MULTIPLE regression analysis; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics
- Publication
Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 2015, Vol 21, Issue 4, p256
- ISSN
1020-3397
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.26719/2015.21.4.256