Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34915938›Full record

ReviewJournal of pharmaceutical policy and practice2021

Prevalence and predictors of self-medication among university students in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Getahun Fetensa, Tadesse Tolossa, Werku Etafa, Ginenus Fekadu

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  13. Routinization in Nursing Care: An Integrated Review.Iranian journal of nursing and midwifery research
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Getahun FetensaDepartment of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Institute of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia.
Tadesse TolossaDepartment of Public Health, Institute of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia.
Werku EtafaDepartment of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Institute of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia.
Ginenus FekaduDepartment of Pharmacy, Institute of Health Sciences, Wollega University, Nekemte, Ethiopia. take828pharm@gmail.com.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4926-0685

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSelf-medication of medicines is a global issue particularly among those with good access and familiarity with medications such as university students. It has a significant impact on drug resistance and medication-related complications. There are limited and inconsistent studies on self-medication practices in Ethiopia. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication and its predictors among university students in Ethiopia.

methodsA systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the prevalence and predictors of self-medication among university students in Ethiopia. Published articles from various electronic databases such as Medline, Hinari, Pub Med, Cochrane library, and the Web of Science were accessed. In addition, a manual search was performed including Google Scholar. Searching of articles were searched from January 1st to February 1

resultsWe found of 812 published and unpublished studies in our search. Finally, 31 full-text studies were reviewed, and 13 studies fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the final meta-analysis. A total of 5377 study respondents from 13 studies were included in the study. The results of our study revealed that the pooled prevalence of self-medication among university students was 49.41% (95% CI 38.67%, 60.13%). The included studies had a sample size ranging from 250 to 792 with the lowest prevalence (19.87%) of self-medication from the University of Gondar, whereas the highest prevalence (77.01%) was recorded in a study conducted at Arsi University. From the pooled estimation, there was a significant association between self-medication and income (OR = 0.67: 95% CI 0.55-0.80). However, the association between self-medication and year of study and sex of participants was insignificant.

conclusionThe pooled prevalence of self-medication among Ethiopian university students was relatively high compared to the current global health problem with an increase in anti-microbial resistance. Health professionals and concerned bodies should pay attention to raising awareness regarding the consequences of using medications without prescription.

Indexed as

EthiopiaMeta-analysisSelf-medicationStudentsSystematic review

Identifiers

PMID34915938
PMCPMC8679998

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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.