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 Nigeria”. 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.