ArticleBMC geriatrics2017
Self-medication among the elderly in Iran: a content analysis study.
Article in BMC geriatrics, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 69 citations in OpenAlex.
- Application of Freire's adult education model in modifying the psychological constructs of health belief model in self-medication behaviors of older adults: a randomized controlled trial.BMC public health · 2020Trial
- Self-medication and non-adherence to antibiotic prescription and associated factors among Myanmar migrants in Thailand: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Analysis on the Prevalence and Practices of Antibiotic Misuse among Adult Residents of Rodriguez, Rizal: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Study.Acta medica Philippina · 2026Article
- Exploring self-care choices: a qualitative study of self-medication insights among university students in Lira City, Northern Uganda.BMJ public health · 2024Article
- Article
- The prevalence and causes of self-medication among medical university students in Iran during COVID-19 outbreak and its implications for public health and health systems: A cross-sectional study.Health science reports · 2024Article
- Medication use Pattern among the Elderly in Iran: A Review Article.International journal of preventive medicine · 2024Review
- Antibiotic Misuse Behaviours of Older People: Confirmation of the Factor Structure of the Antibiotic Use Questionnaire.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Self-Medication Practices, Use of Brand-Name, and Over-the-Counter Medicines by Peruvian Older Adults.Canadian geriatrics journal : CGJ · 2023Article
- Prevalence of self-medication among the elderly: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of education and health promotion · 2023Review
- Factors associated with the incidence and the expenditure of self-medication among middle-aged and older adults in China: A cross-sectional study.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
- Association between Self-Medication for Mild Symptoms and Quality of Life among Older Adults in Rural Japan: A Cross-Sectional Study.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Article
- Does self-medication reduce medical expenditure among the middle-aged and elderly population? A four-wave longitudinal study in China.Frontiers in public health · 2022Article
- Risk factors associated with self-medication among the indigenous communities of Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh.PloS one · 2022Article
- Definition of self-medication: a scoping review.Therapeutic advances in drug safety · 2022Article
- Prevalence of self-medication in children under-five years by their mothers in Yogyakarta city Indonesia.Journal of family medicine and primary care · 2021Article
- Article
- Knowledge, attitude, and practice of pharmacy and medical students regarding self-medication, a study in Zabol University of Medical Sciences; Sistan and Baluchestan province in south-east of Iran.BMC medical education · 2021Article
- Prevalence and associated factors of self-treatment behaviour among different elder subgroups in rural China: a cross-sectional study.International journal for equity in health · 2020Article
- Medication Consumption Patterns and Polypharmacy among Community-Dwelling Elderly in Lomé (Togo) in 2017.Current gerontology and geriatrics research · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSelf-medication is described as the use of drugs without a physician's prescription to treat self-recognized illness or symptoms, and an important health issue among the elderly. Despite the wide range of different definitions, recognizing all forms of self-medication among older adults, particularly, in developing countries, help healthcare professionals and providers to reduce harmful effects of self-medication. The purpose of this study is to describe the practice of self-medication and its related factors among elderly people in Iran based on the experiences of people who are involved in this phenomenon.
methodsThis qualitative study was conducted using content analysis. Purposive sampling was used to select the participants and continued until saturation. The participants were the elderly, their care-givers, physicians, and pharmacists. Data was collected using semi-structured interviews, and analysis was done using an inductive approach. The theory of planned behavior was used as a framework to explain the role of the emerged factors in the occurrence of self-medication behavior.
resultsBased on the expressed experiences of the participants, factors related to the practice of self- medication among the elderly in Iran fit in these 5 categories: "patient's attitudes towards disease, treatment, and physicians", "living with disease", "unfriendly environments", "enabling health system", and "influential others".
conclusionsBased on the results of this study, self-medication of the elderly in Iran has commonalities with many countries in regard to over-the-counter medications and complementary and alternative medicine; however, self-medication is also seen with drugs that require a prescription but can easily be obtained from pharmacies. Contributing factors, apart from the elderly themselves, include their families, caregivers, and social circle, the physical environment where they live, and the health system from which they receive services.
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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.