ArticleCureus2023
Self-Medication Practices During the COVID-19 Pandemic Among the Adult Population in the Eastern Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Article in Cureus, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Applying a gender and equity matrix for a contextualized antimicrobial stewardship intervention in Pakistan.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Prevalence and Determinants of Self-Medication Practices among Cardiovascular Patients from Béja, North West Tunisia: A Community-Pharmacy-Based Survey.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Prevalence and determinants of household medicine storage in Vietnam: A community-based cross-sectional study.SAGE open medicine · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundSelf-medication is vital to public health because it has an impact on people's health and the current healthcare system, both positively and negatively. During public health catastrophes like the COVID-19 disease, this is particularly true.
aimThis study aimed to examine the behavioral response of the community with regard to self-medication during the COVID-19 pandemic in the eastern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
methodsDuring the COVID-19 outbreak from March to September 2020, a cross-sectional online survey of 398 participants using structured questionnaires was conducted to observe knowledge, prevalence, patterns, and sources of self-medication among the respondents in the eastern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
resultsThe percentage of respondents who had heard about self-medication was 50.5%, and those who practiced self-medication during COVID-19 were 43.7% of the respondents. Regarding knowledge, 60.3% had a low overall knowledge level versus 39.7% who had a high knowledge level. Most of those who practiced self-medication took medication based on their own decision (34.4%). The most frequently used drugs during the outbreak were analgesics (43.5%) and vitamins (24.9%). Only 1% of participants reported using anti-malaria drugs (hydroxychloroquine). The most common reasons for self-medication practices were having a mild illness (30.4%), followed by fear of infection (26.6%). The symptoms for which the respondents took self-medication were headache (29.6%), cough (26.6%), and fever (24.6%).
conclusionOur investigation showed a low level of knowledge about self-medication and a considerable level of self-medication practices. Therefore, self-medication may be minimized with ongoing awareness-raising and sensitization.
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