Pattern of Self-Medication with Prescription Medicines Among Residents of Ilorin in North Central Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The challenge posed by inappropriate use of medicine is of global concern. It is associated with patient using his discretion to choose the type of medication to self-treat a perceived ailment and the choice of medication usually devoid of health care professional input.
 Objective: The significance of this study was to assess the pattern of self-medication with selected prescription medicines among residents of Agbo-Oba area of Ilorin, Kwara State.
 Method: The method was a descriptive cross-sectional study of residents of Agbo Oba area of Ilorin between January to May 2019 with self-designed validated questionnaire. Convenient sampling method was used to select the participant who met the criteria for selection.
 Results: The mean age of the respondents was 38.5±11.8 with minimum age of 19 and maximum age of 70 years. The most occurring age group was 26-35 years and primary school level of education, and artisan/trader were the most predominant in self-medication. Among the prescription medicines, antibiotics were the most self-used followed by steroids and cyproheptadine. Females were shown to practice self-medication more than their male counterpart. Marital status and level of education were factors that influenced awareness of risk factors associated with self-medication among the study participants, p-value = 0.017 and 0.039, respectively.
 Conclusion: The prevalence of self-medication with prescription medicines was high and appeared to be more among female than male. Specifically, female misuse oral corticosteroids and cyproheptadine more and marital status and occupation type are strong predictors of their awareness of potential risks associated with self-use of prescription medicines.

Antimicrobial stewardship: knowledge, perceptions, and factors associated with antibiotics misuse among consumer’s visiting the community pharmacies in a Nigeria Southwestern State

“…This practice could explain why approximately 10.6% of the respondents used antibiotics for only two days, despite antibiotic therapy typically requiring longer durations. This is consistent with the study done in Ilorin, Nigeria, where 23% of respondents took antibiotics for only 2 days [ 30 ]. Incomplete antibiotic dosage regimens contribute to the increase in antibiotic resistance and the transmission of resistant bacteria.…”

“…Ciprofloxacin was associated with side effects like weakness and a bitter and dry mouth. These common side effects align with those reported in a study carried out in North Central Nigeria [ 30 ]. Although the severity of these side effects was not investigated in this study, however, they could contribute to consumers prematurely stopping antibiotic regimens.…”

“…Also, the frequent use of tetracycline and metronidazole suggests their utilization for the prevention or treatment of diarrhoea, as about a third of respondents believed antibiotics are most effective for preventing diarrhoea, which is also one of the top seven ailments for which consumers used antibiotics in this study. Similar misuse of amoxicillin has been reported in Indonesia, while Ampiclox (ampicillin-cloxacillin) was found to be the most misused antibiotic among consumers in Lagos and Ilorin, Nigeria [28][29][30].…”

Prevalence and tetracycline resistance profile of <i>Salmonella typhi</i> from local milk consumed in Yola, Adamawa State, Nigeria

“…Dysentery and diarrhea are the most common food borne diseases experienced in most of Nigeria's local societies (Cudjoe et al, 2022). In most of the cases, victims resort to selfprescription of antibiotics such as tetracycline, metronidazole etc (Jamiu et al, 2016;Cudjoe et al, 2022) unless the situation gets out of control. This has resulted to the irresponsible use of tetracycline in most Nigerian communities seen today.…”

“…Irresponsible antibiotic use has been reported in several literatures as drivers of antibiotic resistance which has attracted attention of relevant authorities globally (Gargano et al, 2021). Nevertheless, measures to curtail antibiotic misuse in most low-middle income countries such as Nigeria are still poorly implemented (Jamiu et al, 2016). These can result in the development of antibiotic resistance by microbes through evolutionary pressure which can easily be spread to other microorganisms both horizontally and vertically (McEwen, 2006;Lhermie et al, 2016;Gargano et al, 2021).…”