PERCEPTION OF SOCIAL DETERMINANTS AND RISKS OF SELF MEDICATION AMONG RESIDENTS OF AWKA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

This  work  examined  “Perception  of  Social  Determinants  and  Risks  of  Self  Medication  among Residents of Awka South local government Area, Southeast Nigeriaâ€. The objectives were: To find out how residents of Awka South L.G.A perceive the appropriateness of self-medication; the extent of the occurrence/involvement  of  residents  in  the  practice  of  self  medication;  to  find  outsocial  factors associated  with  it;  the  major  illnesses/symptoms  for  which  self-diagnosis  and  self  medication  are adopted among residents of Awka South L.G.A as well as risks associated with it in their area; and to ascertain the measures required to control the practice of self-medication in Awka South L.G.A. The population of the study was 116, 208 which is the population of persons aged 18years and above in Awka  South  L.G.A.  The  sample  size  used  for  this  study  was  360.  Multi-stage  sampling  technique comprising  cluster  and  simple  random  sampling  techniques  were  used  to  select  the  sample  for  the study.  The  instruments  for  data  collection  were  the  questionnaire  and  in-depth  interview  guide.  The qualitative  data  were  analyzed  using  manual  content  analysis  method,  whereas  the  Statistical Package for Social Sciences was used to process quantitative data which were thereafter presented in frequency  distribution  tables  and  simple  percentages.  The  hypotheses  were  tested  using  chi-square test  statistics  (X2).  The  findings  showed  that  residents  of  Awka  South  L.G.A  considered  the  use  of drugs without prescription as appropriate, although they agreed that there are risks associated with self  medication.  The  majority  of  the  residents  saw  the  risk  of  drug  over  dose  as  a  major  risk associated with self medication. It was also found that the most common illnesses that self medication was adopted were minor conditions like body pain, headache, fever, cough, menstrual pain and cold while  when  confronted  with  moderate  or  major  illness  conditions,  they  seek  professional  care.  The study  also  found  out  that  people  self  medicate  because  of  high  cost  of  hospital  bills,  prolonged hospital registration and treatment procedure, availability and unrestrained access to drugs, poverty, gender issuess, and the information people get from family/friends concerning drugs and drug usage. It  was  also  found  in  the  study  that  the  commonest  drugs  used  for  self  medication  was  anti  malaria drugs.  It  was  recommended  that  drugs  should  not  be  sold  over  the  counter  without  doctor’s prescription;  also  free  medical  treatment  options  should  also  be  put  in  place  to  reduce  costs  of treatment.  It  was  further  recommended  that  sale  of  drugs  by  drug  hawkers  should  be  prohibited, while public awareness/enlightenment campaign on dangers of self-medication should be intensified