ArticlePloS one2018
Prevalence, determinants and knowledge of antibacterial self-medication: A cross sectional study in North-eastern Tanzania.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- The global prevalence of antibiotic self-medication among the adult population: systematic review and meta-analysis.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Perception and practice of self-medication with antibiotics among medical students in Sudanese universities: A cross-sectional study.PloS one · 2022Trial
- Prevalence, associated factors and treatment prescriptions for community-acquired pneumonia: a cross-sectional study at the largest children's hospital in the Ashanti Region, Ghana.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- A point prevalence survey on antibiotic dispensing practices identifies targets for quality improvement of antimicrobial stewardship in community pharmacies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2026Article
- High Burden of Multidrug-Resistant Bacteria in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Retrospective Hospital-Based Study.Infection and drug resistance · 2026Article
- Exploring behavioral determinants of antimicrobial dispensing in drug retail outlets of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: a mixed methods study.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Using the Q-method to explore pregnant and breastfeeding women's perceptions of antibiotic use in Mahajanga, Northwest Madagascar.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Status and implications of the knowledge, attitudes and practices towards AWaRe antibiotic use, resistance and stewardship among low- and middle-income countries.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Review
- [Factors associated with mothers' first therapeutic recourse for children aged 0-5 years in Benin].The Pan African medical journal · 2025Article
- Antibiotic self-medication in Otuke District, Northern Uganda: Prevalence and associated factors.PloS one · 2025Article
- Prevalence of antibiotic self-medication and knowledge of antimicrobial resistance among community members in Neno District rural Malawi: A cross-sectional study.IJID regions · 2024Article
- Antibiotic prescription, dispensing and use in humans and livestock in East Africa: does morality have a role to play?Monash bioethics review · 2024Article
- UNAM-HIMFG Bacterial Lysate Activates the Immune Response and Inhibits Colonization of Bladder of Balb/c Mice Infected with the Uropathogenic CFT073International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Exploring drivers of self-treatment with antibiotics in three agricultural communities of northern Tanzania.Antimicrobial resistance and infection control · 2024Article
- Article
- Bacterial colonisation of surface and core of palatine tonsils among Tanzanian children with recurrent chronic tonsillitis and obstructive sleep apnoea who underwent (adeno)tonsillectomy.The Journal of laryngology and otology · 2024Article
- Self-medication with antibiotics among out-patient attendants at Madina Polyclinic prior to medical consultation.Ghana medical journal · 2023Article
- Antimicrobial stewardship: knowledge, perceptions, and factors associated with antibiotics misuse among consumer's visiting the community pharmacies in a Nigeria Southwestern State.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023Article
- Oral healthcare seeking behavior of Malaysian adults in urban and rural areas: findings from the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2019.BMC oral health · 2023Article
- Biopsychosocial analysis of antibiotic use for the prevention or management of COVID-19 infections: A scoping review.Research in social & administrative pharmacy : RSAP · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Self-medication is very common especially in developing countries and is documented to be associated with many health risks including antibiotic resistance. This study investigated the prevalence, determinants and knowledge of self-medication among residents of Siha District in Tanzania. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 residents in a rural District of Kilimanjaro region, North-eastern Tanzania from 1st to 28th April 2017. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information regarding drugs used, knowledge, history and reasons for antibiotic self-medication. Log-binomial regression analysis was done using STATA 13 to examine factors associated with self-medication. A slightly majority of the respondents (58%) admitted to self-medication. Antibiotics most commonly utilized were amoxycillin (43%) and an antiprotozoal drug metronidazole (10%). The most common symptoms that led to self-medication were cough (51.17%), headache/ fever/ malaria (25.57%) and diarrhoea (21.59%). The most common reasons for self-medication were emergency illness (24.00%), health facility charges (20.33%), proximity of pharmacy to home (17.00%) and no reason (16.66%). Almost all reported that self-medication is not better than seeking medical consultation, 98% can result into harmful effects and 96% can result to drug resistance. The level of self-medication in this study is comparable with findings from other studies in developing countries. Pharmacies were commonly used as the first point of medical care. There is therefore a need for educative antibiotic legislative intervention to mitigate the adverse effects of antibiotic self-medication in Siha district in Tanzania.
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