Assessment of Self-Medication Practice and Its Determinants Among Undergraduate Health Science Students of College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, North West Ethiopia: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Self-medication (SM) is the use of drugs or herbs to treat self-diagnosed physical ailments or symptoms without consulting a healthcare professional. It plays a great role in daily life and common in the healthcare system around the globe, especially in developing countries. Due to their expertise, health science students are also predicted to practice it more frequently. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of SM and its determinants among undergraduate health science students at the College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, North West Ethiopia. METHODS: 241 students took part in the study from September to November 2021. Using a recall time of four weeks, a quantitative descriptive cross-sectional study was utilized to evaluate the practice of self-medication and associated factors. Interviews and structured questionnaires were used to collect the data. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 25. RESULTS: Overall, 246 students were approached. The questionnaire received responses from 241 students, for a 98% response rate. Self-medication was used by 58.1% of students over the course of the previous four weeks. Analgesic and antipyretic medications were the most often utilized pharmacological category (57.1%), followed by antibiotics (42.1%). The most frequent (50%) complaints involving SM were headache and fever. The mildness of the sickness was the primary factor in the study participants’ practice of self-medication (50%). Self-medication is linked to gender (AOR: 3.415; 95% CI: 1.014–11.503), poor monthly income (AOR: 0.007; 0.0003–0.175), pharmacy student status (AOR: 52.603; 4.371–633.098), and medical laboratory student status (AOR: 0.037; 0.002–0.631). CONCLUSION: Self-medication was common among health science students. Students frequently use over-the-counter and prescription-only medications for SM. Sex, field of study and monthly income are independent predictors for SM use. Though it is not absolutely discouraged, awareness on the associated risks should be created.