Background: Attitudes towards conventional and complementary medicine among future healthcare professionals can impact their future pharmacotherapy practice. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and predisposing factors related to self-medication among medical and pharmacy students.
Methods: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, on first- and final-year students of medicine and pharmacy. The multivariate Poisson regression model with robust variance was used to identify the main predictors of self-medication.
Results: The overall self-medication prevalence in the past year was 81.3%. Independent risk factors for self-medication identified in the regression analysis were the final study year, housing condition, i.e., living in a leased apartment or in a student dormitory in comparison to living with parents, and cigarette consumption. The conventional drugs were the most frequently used, mostly for the symptoms of cold and pain. Final-year students had more confidence in conventional medicines than in herbal drugs and were more aware of the risks of their concomitant use.
Conclusion: Self-medication is highly prevalent among students of medical sciences, especially among final-year students. Increased medical knowledge led to the higher awareness of the drug interaction risks.
Keywords: Serbia; herbal drugs; medical knowledge; pharmacy; self-medication; students.