ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2012
Self-medication practices with antibiotics among tertiary level students in Accra, Ghana: a cross-sectional study.
Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 91 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
91 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 229 citations in OpenAlex.
- Drivers of inappropriate use of antibiotics among community members in low- and middle-income countries: a systematic review of qualitative studies.BMC public health · 2025Pooled it
- Improving antibiotic utilization in West Africa: enhancing interventions through systematic review and evidence synthesis.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence and causes of self-medication for oral health problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Faecal carriage of antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli in asymptomatic children and associations with primary care antibiotic prescribing: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC infectious diseases · 2016Pooled it
- Global prevalence of antibiotic resistance in paediatric urinary tract infections caused by Escherichia coli and association with routine use of antibiotics in primary care: systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2016Pooled it
- Generative artificial intelligence-assisted medical self-care and associated factors among undergraduate students at Arsi University, South-Eastern Ethiopia.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Beyond the prescription: unraveling knowledge, attitudes, and the socio-demographic tapestry of antibiotic misuse among university students in Egypt.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Informal over-the-counter supply of antibiotics in Ghana: A qualitative analysis of practices in community pharmacies.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Assessment of self-medication practices and its associated factors among undergraduate students of private universities in Banadir region, Somalia.BMC medical education · 2026Observational
- Understanding Antimicrobial Self-Medication Practices in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India.Cureus · 2025Article
- Advancing the safe motherhood initiative: A qualitative and sentiment analysis of local physician's perspectives on antibiotic self-medication during pregnancy in a low- and middle-income country.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Using best-worst scaling experiment to understand factors influencing self-medication practices with antimicrobial drugs: A survey of students studying health programs at a tertiary institution in Ghana.PLOS global public health · 2025Article
- Key modifiable risk factors for self-medication among university students: An observational study.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2024Article
- Knowledge attitude and convenience on self-medication practices among university students in Bangladesh exploration using structural equation modeling approach.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Unravelling the dilemma of self-medication in Egypt: a cross-sectional survey on knowledge, attitude, and practice of the general Egyptian population.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Self-medication with antibiotics during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-sectional study among adults in Tema, Ghana.PloS one · 2024Article
- Article
- Self-medication with antibiotics among out-patient attendants at Madina Polyclinic prior to medical consultation.Ghana medical journal · 2023Article
- Use and Quality of Blood Cultures for the Diagnosis of Bloodstream Infections: A Cross-Sectional Study in the Ho Teaching Hospital, Ghana, 2019-2021.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
31 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The study was carried out to estimate the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics among tertiary level students in Accra (Ghana) and evaluate factors associated with the practice. This was a descriptive cross-sectional study and involved face-to-face interviews of 600 respondents selected by convenient sampling. Prevalence of self medication was 70% (95% CI: 66.3-73.7), and the practice was significantly lower among medically inclined students (OR: 0.2, 95% CI: 0.1-0.4, p < 0.001). Among the respondents who practiced self medication, the most common frequency of antibiotic usage was at intervals of one month (30%, 95% CI: 25.6-34.4%), and the most common antibiotic used was amoxacillin (23.9%, 95% CI: 21.0-26.8%). Treatment failure were reported by 35% (95% CI: 30.5-39.6%) of the respondents, and the main reasons cited for self medication were that, it was less expensive compared to medical care in the hospital and secondly, medical care in hospitals were associated with long delays. Forty nine percent (95% CI: 44.2-53.8%) of the respondents had poor knowledge about the health implications of irrational use of antibiotics, and 46% (95% CI: 41.2-50.8%) did not comply with the completion of the full course of antibiotics. Self medication among tertiary students in Accra is an important public health problem and this may reflect the situation among tertiary students in the whole of Ghana.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.