Self-medication with over the counter drugs, prevalence of risky practice and its associated factors in pharmacy outlets of Asmara, Eritrea.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Tesfamariam S
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6364400 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Feb
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
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Self-medication with over the counter drugs, prevalence of risky practice and its associated factors in pharmacy outlets of Asmara, Eritrea.
Tesfamariam Sirak S Anand Indermeet Singh IS Kaleab Ghide G Berhane Samson S Woldai Biruck B Habte Eyasu E Russom Mulugeta M
BMC public health 20190206 1
<h4>Background</h4>Although over the counter (OTC) drugs are believed to be relatively safe, their inappropriate use could have serious implications. The aim of the study was to assess the practice of self-medication, prevalence of risky practice and its associated factors in pharmacy outlets of Asmara, Eritrea.<h4>Methods</h4>A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 609 customers in 20 pharmacy outlets in Asmara between August and September, 2017. Two-stage cluster sampling was e ...[more]
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| S-EPMC6600082 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Mind-body practices that elicit the relaxation response (RR) have been used worldwide for millennia to prevent and treat disease. The RR is believed to be the counterpart to stress response and is characterized by decreased oxygen consumption, increased exhaled nitric oxide, and reduced psychological distress. Individuals experiencing chronic psychological stress have the opposite pattern of physiology and a characteristic transcriptional profile. We hypothesized that consistent, long-term practice of RR techniques results in characteristic changes in gene expression. We tested this hypothesis by assessing the transcriptional profile of whole blood in healthy, long-term practitioners of daily RR practice (group M) in comparison to healthy controls (group N1). The signature obtained has been validated on new subject data. Keywords: time course
2008-07-05 | GSE10041 | GEO
Project description:Objectives: To evaluate the perceptions and extent of practicing self-medication among undergraduate pharmacy students. Methods: This cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study was conducted over a six month period (January to June 2016) among undergraduate pharmacy students in five reputable public universities of Bangladesh. It involved face-to-face interviews regarding self-medication of 250 respondents selected by simple random sampling. Results: Self-medication was reported by 88.0% of students. Antipyretics (58.40%) were mostly preferred for the treatment of fever and headaches. The major cause for self-medication was minor illness (59.60%, p = 0.73) while previous prescriptions were the main source of knowledge as well as the major factor (52.80%, p = 0.94) dominating the self-medication practice. The results also demonstrated 88.80% of students had previous knowledge on self-medication and 83.60% of students always checked the information on the label; mainly the expiry date before use (85.60%). A significant (p < 0.05) portion of the students (51% male and 43% female) perceived it was an acceptable practice as they considered self-medication to be a segment of self-care. Furthermore, students demonstrated differences in their response level towards the adverse effect of drugs, the health hazard by a higher dose of drug, a physician's help in case of side effects, taking medicine without proper knowledge, and stopping selling medicine without prescription. Conclusions: Self-medication was commonly used among pharmacy students primarily for minor illnesses using over-the-counter medications. Although it is an inevitable practice for them it should be considered an important public health problem as this practice may increase the misuse or irrational use of medicines.
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