| ORIGINAL ARTICLE |
|
| Year : 2012 | Volume
: 4
| Issue : 1 | Page : 24-28 |
|
|
Medicine vendors: Self-medication practices and medicine knowledge
Asa Auta, Simeon Omale, Temitope J Folorunsho, Shalkur David, Samuel B Banwat
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria
Correspondence Address:
Asa Auta
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Jos, Jos
Nigeria
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/1947-2714.92899
|
|
|
Background: Medicine vendors fill the gap created by inadequate skilled professionals required for medicine procurement, storage, and distribution in developing countries. Aim : To evaluate self-medication practice and medicine knowledge among medicine vendors and to determine if a relationship exists between both. Materials and Methods : A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted, using a pretested questionnaire on 236 medicine vendors in Jos, Nigeria, sampled through a two-stage stratified design. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16, and the chi-square test was used to determine the association between variables. Results : Self-medication was common (75.4%) among respondents and was not associated (P>0.05) with any of the demographic characteristics studied. The classes of medicines commonly used by respondents for self-medication were analgesics (31.4%), anti-malarials (22.6%), multivitamins (17.7%), and antibiotics (11.25%). A knowledge assessment test revealed that only 34.3% of the respondents had adequate knowledge. There was no significant (P>0.05) relationship between self-medication practice and medicine knowledge, among the respondents. However, the medicine knowledge scores were significantly (P<0.05) associated with holding a certificate in health sciences, years of experience, and the place of practice of the medicine vendors. Conclusion : The present study demonstrated that self-medication practice was high and inadequate medicine knowledge existed among respondents. |
|
|
|
| [FULL TEXT] [PDF]* |
|
 |
|
