Factors Influencing Self Education Among Students Of University Of Ghana, Legon

ABSTRACT

Self-medication is the act of obtaining and consuming drug(s) without the advice of a

physician for treatment of self-diagnosed symptoms or illness. This praxis plays a

major role in self-care and hence its adoption worldwide. According to International

Pharmaceutical Federation (F.I.P) and World Health Organization (W.H.O), the

public is well informed in recent times and as a resuit, have made their health care a

more inclusive personal concern. W.H.O in collaboration with governments has

encouraged prudent and discreet self-care only when it is backed with quality

infonnation and knowledge about the drugs used. The youth, many of which are

students contributes a greater proportion to this practice.

This study used a cross-sectional approach to determine the factors influencing selfmedication

among students of the University of Ghana, Legon. Primary data was

gathered from 396 students using a questionnaire through a random sampling

technique. The data was entered and analyzed using STATA 14.1 and the chi-square

test was used to determine associations between variables.

The prevalence of self-medication among students was forty-eight percent (48.0%).

The practice of self-medication was common among females (54.8%) than in males

(45.2%). Logistic regression analysis shows a significant difference (p< 0.05)

between the race of respondents and the practice of self-medication. The most

commonly used drug classes were antibiotics (37.1%), antimalarials (17.9%) and

analgesics (13.2%). Most students obtain their drugs from the pharmacy (71.3%),

friends/roommates (8.9%) and medicines from home (7.2%).