Self-Medication Among King Khalid University Students, Saudi Arabia

Sultan M Alshahrani; Sirajudeen Shaik Alavudeen; Khaled M Alakhali; Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi; Ahmed K Bahamdan; Easwaran Vigneshwaran

doi:10.2147/RMHP.S230257

Self-Medication Among King Khalid University Students, Saudi Arabia

Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2019 Nov 14:12:243-249. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S230257. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Sultan M Alshahrani¹, Sirajudeen Shaik Alavudeen¹, Khaled M Alakhali^{1

2}, Yaser Mohammed Al-Worafi³, Ahmed K Bahamdan¹, Easwaran Vigneshwaran¹

Affiliations

¹ Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia.
² Clinical Pharmacy Department, College of Pharmacy, USCI University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
³ Clinical Pharmacy Department, College Of Pharmacy, University of Science and Technology of Fujairah, Fujairah, UAE.

Abstract

Purpose: This study objective was to explore the pattern of self-medications among King Khalid University students, Saudi Arabia.

Patients and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted over five months among King Khalid University students, Abha, Saudi Arabia.

Results: Among all the study participants, nearly 98.7% were practicing self-medication. Headache (75.9%), cough and cold (52.5%), and fever (35.6%) and body pain (24.6%) were the most reported symptoms. Use of painkillers (91.6%) was significantly predominant among the medical students, whereas non-medical students used antibiotics (35.4%).Time saving (64.2%), mild symptom (51.7%) and quick relief (36.9%) were the reasons behind seeking self-medication in this study.

Conclusion: Self-medications was common in King Khalid University. Educational programs are highly recommended.

Keywords: King Khalid University; Saudi Arabia; medical; nonmedical; self-medication; students.