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Adeba et al. | Journal of Clinical and Translational Research 2024; 10(1): 72-77 73
country to country. In developing countries, both modern Nationalities and Peoples Region, Gurage Zone, located 178 km
drugs and traditional medicines are commonly used for self- southwest of Addis Ababa and 20 km east of Wolkite town.
medication [5].
It was also noted that prescription-only medications could 2.2. Inclusion and exclusion criteria
easily be obtained without prescriptions for self-medication in Individuals that match these inclusion criteria were recruited:
developing countries like Ethiopia [6]. Utilizing drugs without aged 18 years or above, available during data collection, able to
prescription from physicians may not produce the maximum communicate by either speaking or writing, and had lived in the
beneficial effects or may even jeopardize the consumer’s health. town for at least 6 months.
The efficacy and safety of most traditional medicines used in Exclusion criteria include individuals who are unable to
Ethiopia are not scientifically proven, and the dosage prescribed communicate (a problem with hearing) and non-volunteer.
by traditional healers is always imprecise [7].
Inappropriate and ineffective self-medication can also 2.3. Sample size calculation and sampling procedure
delay timely and appropriate treatment, culminating in tragic The sample size was determined using the single population
consequences [8]. Unused medications are often kept well beyond proportion formula in consideration of the following assumptions:
their use-by dates or stored without appropriate identification 95% CI and 5% margin of error. The maximum sample size was
(such as being mixed in a container without original packaging), determined from an assumption of the total households of the
leading to potential misuse. Some consumers may attempt town by the single population formula:
to mix drugs that are contraindicated to each other, exposing α 2 2
themselves to the heightened risk of adverse drug interactions and n= ([Z /2] P [1-P])/d
reactions [9]. Furthermore, 21% of drugs stored in family medical Where n = Minimum sample size; p = Estimate of the prevalence
α
kits are often expired, and drug packaging inserts are missing of self-medication (to estimate, p = 0.45 is used [17]); Z = Standard
/2
(18%) [9]. normal variable at 1.96; α (confidence level) is mostly 5% (i.e., with
Only a small proportion of the many symptoms facing 95% confidence level); d = Tolerated error 0.05 (5%).
an individual, accounting for 10 – 30% of the symptoms, is n = ([1.96] 0.45[1-0.45])/(0.05) 2
2
reportedly brought to the attention of physicians. A prevailing n = 380
presumption is that the majority of the symptoms are either Topping up with 10% for the non-response rate, the final sample
tolerated or self-medicated [5]. According to different studies, the size = 380 + (380 × 0.1) = 418.
prevalence of self-medication is estimated to be 27% in Spain and Systematic random sampling was applied to select households,
99.4% in Nigeria [10,11]. The extent of self-medication practice which were chosen from 1996 households, that is every 5 (every
th
varies across countries; for instance, in the United States of 1996/418 ) household. An individual aged 18 and above was
th
America, about 71% of men claimed to have self-medicated at randomly selected from a selected household for interview. After
least once within 6 months before survey [12]. About 41.5% of clearly explaining the aim of the study, informed consent was
respondents in the United Kingdom [13], 27% in Spain, [10], and obtained from all study participants before data collection. The
50% in Ethiopia [14] reported to have practiced self-medication. standardized data collection tool was developed by reviewing
Several factors are associated with a likelihood of practicing self- related literature.
medication. These factors include age, gender, expenditure, self-
care orientation, socioeconomic status, satisfaction of efficacy, 2.4. Operational definition
and seriousness of illnesses [15,16]. (i). Drug retailed outlet: Community pharmacist who sells drugs
Inappropriate self-medication results in drug dependencies,
wastage of resources, and serious health hazards. Self-medication to prescribers [18].
in southern Ethiopia is quite common but there is little information (ii). Over-the-counter drugs: Drugs that are purchased by users
without prescription [18].
regarding the extent of practice and associated factors. Therefore, (iii). Self-oral medication practice: Use of drug(s) by the
this study aimed to determine the magnitude and factors associated study participants without consulting a qualified health
with self-medication practices among the various segments of the practitioner [19].
community, with the ultimate purpose of formulating appropriate
health education programs to halt self-medication-related public 2.5. Data quality assurance
health problems. It is crucial to synthesize available evidence for
better decision-making and help Gurage zone residents wean off Before the actual data collection began, a pre-test targeting 5%
the habit of self-medication. of the total sample (20 samples) was carried out at Agena town.
Training was given to data collectors and supervisors on how to
2. Methods manage the data collection process. The data were collected in
face-to-face interviews. First, data cleaning was done in the three
2.1. Study design and setting
steps during template formation to search for ensure consistency
A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted, from of values, by adhering to a good skipping pattern and controlling
April 28 to June 27, 2022, at Gubre town in the Southern Nations data entry. Second, cleaning during data entry was conducted
DOI: https://doi.org/10.36922/jctr.00098