Flipping the script: Consumers’ propensity for self-medication

Abstract

The U.S. health-care debate has focused on several macro-level factors to accomplish costcontainment, universal accessibility, and high-quality delivery in the marketplace. The present research empirically explores the drivers of consumer's propensity to self-medicate. The findings suggest that consumers' need for control is an important determinant of their propensity to selfmedicate. Specifically, health locus of control factors are significant predictors of differences between Baby Boomers and Gen Ys in their propensity to self-medicate. Findings also suggest the importance of the role of a 'powerful other' such as a health-care provider in deterring consumer from self-medication.

Dark side consequences of cyberchondria: an empirical investigation

“…, 2019) – such as “Once I start searching for health information, it is hard for me to stop” ( α = 0.789), trust in physician by adopting five items (Dugan et al. , 2005) – such as “I completely trust my doctor's decisions about which medical treatments are best for me” ( α = 0.836), propensity to self-medicate using three items (Rajamma et al. , 2021) – such as “I often self-treat an illness without the advice from a health care professional” ( α = 0.757), and therapy compliance using three items (Prigge et al.…”

“…We utilized the established scales to measure each construct and maintain content validitycyberchondria using four items (Joki c-Begi c et al, 2019)such as "Once I start searching for health information, it is hard for me to stop" (α 5 0.789), trust in physician by adopting five items (Dugan et al, 2005) such as "I completely trust my doctor's decisions about which medical treatments are best for me" (α 5 0.836), propensity to self-medicate using three items (Rajamma et al, 2021) such as "I often self-treat an illness without the advice from a health care professional" (α 5 0.757), and therapy compliance using three items (Prigge et al, 2015) such as "I take the medication prescribed by my doctor at the right time" (α 5 0.909) on a seven-point Likert scale ranging from 1 5 Strongly disagree to 7 5 Strongly agree. The selected scales have been used in previous studies: cyberchondria (Farooq et al, 2020;Laato et al, 2020), trust in physician (Lewandowski et al, 2021;Netemeyer et al, 2020), therapy compliance (Audrain-Pontevia et al, 2019), while the propensity to self-medicate scale was recently developed.…”

“…Cyberchondria triggers metacognitive feelings of losing control over online health research after excessive investigation (Starcevic et al, 2020). While being under health threats and considering a user also suffering from cyberchondria, the need for control is a strong determinant for the propensity to self-medicate (Rajamma et al, 2021). Thus, users with cyberchondria are likely to self-medicate in an effort to regain the control lost during their online search spree, which leads us to hypothesize: H2.…”

Development of a Propensity to Self-Medicate with Over-the-Counter Medicines Scale (PSM-OTC)

“…These were based, in part, on Dave's conceptualization of technology acceptance, 39 Huston's work on patient intention to seek medication information from pharmacists, 40 Brabers' work on consumer confidence in OTC skills and attitudes, 41 Taylor's work on consumer confidence and advice-seeking tendencies, 9 and Rajamma's work on consumer propensity to self-medicate. 29 Sixteen items were grouped into four components felt to be indicative of propensity: purchase involvement, self-efficacy, awareness of the care needed during self-medication, and the therapeutic usefulness of OTC medicines. The strength in the public's belief in each statement relative to their approach to using OTC medicines was measured on a 7-point Likert scale (Strongly disagree (1) to Strongly agree (7)).…”

“…Specifically, the research noted that consumers with higher self-efficacy in their ability to control their health are more likely to engage in selfmedication. 29 An awareness of the necessary precautions can influence any inclination for their use. 30,31 Taylor et al created a six-item Awareness of Care Needed construct to assess this.…”