Self-Medication with Antibiotic among Public Population in Erbil City
Rozhan Arif Muhammed *
Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Tishk Internatinal University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
Ahmed Habeeb Hattab Dala Ali Al-Ani
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Penang, Malaysia and College of Pharmacy, Almaarefa University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Ali Omar Yassen
Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Tishk Internatinal University, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Self-medication is the administration of medications without a medical prescription to manage self-diagnosed health problems or symptoms. Self-medication with antibiotics is a global phenomenon, and it is more common in developing countries due to poor regulatory controls. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics in Erbil city, Iraq. This was an observational cross-sectional study involving a total of 100 people from the public population in Erbil City, Iraq. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. Among 100 participants, 90% of them were self-medicated with antibiotics. Amoxicillin was the most commonly used antibiotic for self-medication. For successful treatment, 77% of the participants were satisfied by self-medication with the antibiotic. The primary source for the antibiotic was from a community pharmacy with 38%. The study showed that there is a significant association between self-medication with antibiotics and the occupational status of the participants. Self-medication with antibiotics was found to be prevalent among the public population of Erbil City. As a recommendation regulatory control should be implemented to prevent dispensing antibiotics without a medical prescription.
Keywords: Self-medication, antibiotics, prevalence, public, antimicrobial resistance