Self-Medication Prevalence and Factors Associated with Knowledge and Attitude Towards Self-Medication Among Undergraduate Health Science Students at GAMBY Medical and Business College, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

BACKGROUND: Reports indicate that health science students are among the frontline of self-medication practitioners. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the self-medication (SM) practice and associated factors with knowledge and attitude of undergraduate health science students at GAMBY Medical and Business College, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia. METHODS: An institutional-based cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire from May to July, 2022. A stratified random sampling method was applied to collect the data. The collected data were checked, and exported into SPSS 26. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were performed to determine the results and the associated factors. Variables with p < 0.05 were regarded as significant. RESULTS: 301 students (31 medicine, 163 pharmacy, and 107 medical laboratory students) responded (99% response rate). 68.1% of the respondents had practiced SM at least once within the last six months. 58.8% had good knowledge, while 55.5% have a positive attitude towards SM. Headache (33.7%) and cough (29.8%) were the primary disease conditions for SM. Analgesics (37.1%) and antimicrobials (29.8%) are most frequently self-consumed agents. Being a medicine student (AOR = 3.872; 95% CI: (1.263–11.866); p = 0.018), not having health insurance (AOR = 2.431; 95% CI: (1.383–4.274); p = 0.002), and not having a known medical illness (AOR = 2.241; 95% CI: (1.226–4.127); p = 0.010) were independently associated with good knowledge. While, living in an urban area was significantly associated with a positive attitude (AOR = 3.593; 95% CI: (1.404–9.197); p = 0.004). CONCLUSION: The SM rate in GAMBY is significantly higher. Besides, not more than half the students had acceptable knowledge and attitude towards SM. The college and the surrounding regulatory authorities should consider ways of controlling and recapitalizing SM practices by the students.