ReviewIranian journal of public health2014
Predictors of Self-Medication Behavior: A Systematic Review.
Review in Iranian journal of public health, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 128 citations in OpenAlex.
- Prevalence and causes of self-medication for oral health problems: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC oral health · 2024Pooled it
- Medicine storage, wastage, and associated determinants among urban households: a systematic review and meta-analysis of household surveys.BMC public health · 2021Pooled it
- Public Awareness about Antibiotic Use and Resistance among Residents in Highland Areas of Vietnam.BioMed research international · 2019Trial
- Factors Associated With Self-Medication to Mitigate Vaccine Reactions After COVID-19 Vaccination: A Prospective Cohort Study.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2026Article
- Self-medication in times of illness: a multi-center cross-sectional study among medical students in Egypt.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice toward medication use among pregnant women attending Mansoura university hospital antenatal care clinics: an analytic cross-sectional study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Determinants of Maternal Self-Medication Practice for Children Under 5 Years of Age: A Community-Based Study in Dessie, Ethiopia.International journal of pediatrics · 2026Article
- Self-medication practices in the UAE: prevalence, determinants, public awareness, and the impact of an educational intervention on safe medication use.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2026Article
- Factors, Attitudes, and Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Pregnant Women: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- A Cross-Sectional Study on Gastric Diseases and FGIDs in Bangladesh: Insights Into Causes, Symptoms, and Medications.Health science reports · 2025Article
- Over-the-counter drug consumption and related factors, evidence from the European Health Interview Survey.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2025Article
- Self-medication among general population in the European Union: prevalence and associated factors.European journal of epidemiology · 2024Article
- Prevalence and Determinants of Self-Medication Practices among Cardiovascular Patients from Béja, North West Tunisia: A Community-Pharmacy-Based Survey.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Self-Medication Practices Among the General Population in Al-Baha City, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study.Cureus · 2023Article
- Self-Medication during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil: Findings and Implications to Promote the Rational Use of Medicines.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Article
- Article
- Pharmacological Properties of Four Plant Species of the GenusMolecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Self-medication with over-the-counter drugs among consumers: a cross-sectional survey in a Southwestern State in Nigeria.BMJ open · 2023Article
- Consumption of Non-Prescribed Drugs in Portugal During the Pandemic in 2021.International journal of public health · 2023Observational
- Extent and Correlates of Self-Medication Practice among Community-Dwelling Adults in Eastern Ethiopia.BioMed research international · 2023Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSelf-medication with over the counter (OTC) and non OTC drugs may provoke serious consequences for users and societies. Recognition of its predictors therefore, is pivotal in plans to hinder the aggregating behavior. This study aimed to identify possibly all predictors of self-medication and the range of its prevalence among different populations.
methodsMedline, Amed, Scopus, Medlib, SID, Pub Med, Science Direct, and super searcher of Google Scholar were scrutinized using "self-medication", "self-prescription" and "self-treatment" key words without a time limit with special focus on Iranian studies. Authors independently assessed the title, abstract and full text of identified articles for inclusion and any disagreement was resolved with consensus.
resultsThe range of reported self-medication in the 70 included publications was 8.5-98.0%. Having a minor illness (15 studies), health care costs (9 studies), lack of adequate time to visit a physician (11 studies), prior experience (7 studies) in using a drug and long waiting time to visit a qualified practitioner (5 studies) were most frequently reported reasons of self-medication.
conclusionThe observed diversity in the reported prevalence and reasons of self-medication among different sub-groups of populations (e.g. males vs. females) and between developed and developing countries highlights the importance of explanatory behavioral chain analysis of self-medication in different population groups and countries. Even within a single country, predictors of this harmful practice could be inconsistent. Lack of sufficient quality re-search to identify precipitating factors of self-medication in developing countries is paramount.
Indexed as
Identifiers
26060736PMC4450680W2168912312What OpenQuestion holds
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.