Journal of Pharmacovigilance

Assessment of drug hoarding and self-medication practice in South West Ethiopia

2^nd International Conference and Exhibition on Pharmacovigilance & Clinical Trials

November 18-19, 2013 Hilton San Antonio Airport, TX, USA

Seid Musa Ahmed and Fitsum Negash

Accepted Abstracts: J Pharmacovigilance

Abstract:

Background: Drug storage at home promotes self-medication and could also lead to accelerated deterioration of drug quality. Drug storage may also delay getting proper treatment when there is misdiagnosis. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess drug hoarding and self-medication practice in Jimma town, south western Ethiopia. Method: A cross-sectional assessment was conducted using semi-structured interviwer- administered questionnaire from April 20-30, 2011. Result: From the total household studied, 209 (51.4%) households had at least one horded drug in their home. From those 209 households which horded drugs, only 181 households were willing to show hoarded drugs. Among these 36 different types of drugs were found hoarded with a range of 1?6 medicines per household. Paracetamol 60 (28.71%) was the most common individual hoarded drug. Moreover, 289 (71%) of the households practiced self-medication and the most commonly drug used for self medication was paracetamol 168 (59.29%). Drug sharing was reported in 129 (31.7%) of the studied households. Of those that claim to share drugs their main reason for sharing was due common symptoms (93.07%). In multivariate analysis, drug hoarding was significantly associated with educational level (p=0.004) of the respondents. Whereas, self medication was found significantly associated with educational level (p=0.019) and occupational status (p=0.029). Conclusion: Drug hoarding and self medication are very common practices in Jimma town. Given the growing global resistance for antibiotic and documented health issues related to inappropriate use of such drugs, this finding has major public health policy implications for Ethiopia. Key Words: Modern drug, Drug hoarding, Self medication, Drug resistance, Jimma