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THE FACTORS INFLUENCING PRACTICE OF SELF MEDICATION AMONG UNDERGRADUATES STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

a.Background of the Study

Medication refers to the act of consuming medicines for prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases correct medication is observed by reporting any disease to the physician at the hospital or clinic who diagnoses and prescribes the needed drugs to alleviate the condition. This is usually followed by filling of such prescription at the pharmacy by pharmacists Femi-Oyewo et al (2002).Self medication can be defined as the use of drugs to treat self-diagnosed disorder or symptoms or the intermittent or confined use of a prescribed drugs for chronic or recurrent disease or symptoms. Over the counter drugs are a form of self-medication, the buyer diagnoses his own illness and buys a specific drug to treat it WHO (2007).

Self medication is often seen as gaining personal independence from established Medicare. According to the joint statement by the International Pharmaceutical Federation & World Self-medication Industry, self Medication is the use of non-prescription medicines by people on their own initiative. It also states that:

1.   Self-care which includes self medication has been a feature of health care for many years.

2.   Nowadays people are beginning to accept more personal responsibility for their health status and to obtain as much sound information as possible from expert sources in order to help them make appropriate decision in healthcare.

3.   Government and health insurers are increasingly encouraging self-care, including self-medication when appropriate as one means of limiting the rate of increase in third party funding of health care.

4.   Pharmacists are advisors to the public on everyday healthcare and key factors in the supply of and advice on medicines.

5.   Advertising is helpful in informing people about medicines that are available without prescription. It should always be responsible and should not discourage the individual from seeking advice from a pharmacist or physician.

Generally people usually have different remedies for whatever illness you can think of. For example, fever, cold, catarrh, diarrhea, constipation, indigestion, body pains, headache etc. friends or even strangers are always ready to advice on which medication to take, this can be dangerous, even though there is usually no immediate consequence. This suggests that self-medication has become a public health threat in our society at large. Consider the fact that in Nigeria most prescription drugs can be bought from pharmacies and patent medicine stores and even along the streets without prescription.

Self-medication is also the act of obtaining and consuming drugs without advice of a doctor either for diagnosis, prescription or surveillance treatment. It should be known that medicines are chemicals which can have both good and bad effect on the human body.

Indeed just as medicines can cure, they can also harm. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s dictionary defined an undergraduate, as a universally or college student who is studying for their first degree. Some studies have reported alarming rates of self-medication in student population. An example is a study carried out by the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical, microbiology faculty of Pharmaceutical sciences, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria Nigeria, titled “Evaluation of Antibiotics self-medication pattern amongst Undergraduate students of Ahmadu Bello University (Main Campus), Zaria”, it was found that self-medication was practiced by a majority of the respondents. And that self-medication with antibiotics was mostly practiced among students of health related faculties i.e pharmaceutical sciences and medicine the major reasons given for self medicating with antibiotics were:

a.   Assumed knowledge on antibiotics

b.   Prior experience on the use

c.    Lack of time to go for consultation

d.   Attitude of school clinic staff.

While the conditions for which antibiotics were taken include; Gastro intestinal tract infections urinary tract infections and skin infection. More so the university environment is also a contributing factor in the involvement of youth in self medication. This is because there is no parental supervision and it is the students’ first opportunity outside home and opportunity to be part of a larger group without any form of constraint or rule. Also tertiary institutions have been alleged as the last period of freedom before adulthood which comes with responsibilities and duties thus students are more vulnerable and gullible to try out new things however harmful.

In spite of several awareness and enlightment campaign the practice of self medication is still eminent. In combating self-medication, there is a need to know the factors that influence the practice of self-medication (i.e those factors that encourage the practice of self-medication among undergraduates.

This study was carried out among undergraduate of university of lagos Akoka, Lagos State.

b. Statement of the Problem                                           

As a medical personnel, the researcher has observed that several cases of allergic reactions and severe adverse effects following drug use have been traced down to self-medication. It has also been observed that an increasing number of people presenting at the hospitals for treatment practice self-medication which in most cases worsen their state of health.

Self medication also leads to drugs-interactions, wrong treatment for the wrong problem, drug-resentence, insanity and even death. More and more young people are becoming victims of self-medication, may be due to their experimental nature. It is therefore important to study the influence of self-medication among undergraduates of University of Lagos.

c. Purpose of Study    

The purpose of the study is to examine those factors that influence the practice of self-medication among undergraduate of University of Lagos.

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