Self-medication for Minor Ailments by Population in Vientiane Province, Lao People's Democratic Republic
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Abstract
Objectives: To determine the prevalence of self-medication for minor ailments and inappropriate drug use, the sources of information used for decision-making in buying products for self-medication of minor ailments by population in Vientiane province, Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). Method: This cross-sectional survey study was conducted in 200 adults in Vientiane province of Lao PDR, aged between 20 and 78 years old, who were recruited by a multi-stage sampling technique. Stratified random sampling was used to select studied towns. Simple random sampling was used to select villages, houses and subjects in selected houses. The study collected the data using a structured interview questionnaire developed by the researchers and being examined for face validity by three experts. Results: A majority of the subjects were female (65.0%) with an average age 47±13.2 years old. The prevalence of self-medication within 3 months prior to the interviews was 72.7% (95%CI: 65.0, 81.0). The majority of symptoms being self-medicated were headache and fever (58.1%), muscle pain (24.7%) and peptic ulcer (15.1%). Products being used for self-medication were modern medicines, herbs, traditional medicines, dietary supplements and vitamins (85.0, 19.4, 15.1, 5.4 and 5.4% respectively). The overall prevalence of inappropriate drug use was 64.5 (95%CI: 55.0, 74.0). Product with the most prevalent inappropriate use was modern medicines (68.4%). The major source of information used for decision-making to buy vitamins, modern medicines and herbs medicinal plants was the subjects’ past experience of product’s effectiveness (80.0, 68.0 and 50.0 % respectively), while that for traditional medicines was recommendations from peers (50%) and that for dietary supplements was advertisements (40%). Conclusion: In Vientiane province, the prevalence of self-medication and inappropriate drug use was high. Drug use surveillance should focus on medicines used to treat fever, muscle pain and peptic ulcer. Studies to gain deeper understanding of the influence of past experience on drug selection for self-medication should be conducted.
Article Details
ผลการวิจัยและความคิดเห็นที่ปรากฏในบทความถือเป็นความคิดเห็นและอยู่ในความรับผิดชอบของผู้นิพนธ์ มิใช่ความเห็นหรือความรับผิดชอบของกองบรรณาธิการ หรือคณะเภสัชศาสตร์ มหาวิทยาลัยสงขลานครินทร์ ทั้งนี้ไม่รวมความผิดพลาดอันเกิดจากการพิมพ์ บทความที่ได้รับการเผยแพร่โดยวารสารเภสัชกรรมไทยถือเป็นสิทธิ์ของวารสารฯ
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