Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Self-medication with antibiotics in Sana´a City, Yemen

Sami Mohammed Albawani, Yahaya Bin Hassan, Noorizan Abd-Aziz, Shubashini Gnanasan

Faculty of Pharmacy, Department of Pharmacy Practice, University Teknologi MARA, Malaysia;

For correspondence:- Yahaya Hassan Email:

Received: 4 November 2016 Accepted: 9 April 2017 Published: 30 May 2017

Citation: Albawani SM, Hassan YB, Abd-Aziz N, Gnanasan S. Self-medication with antibiotics in Sana´a City, Yemen. Trop J Pharm Res 2017; 16(5):1195-1199 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v16i5.30

© 2017 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics in Sana’a City, Yemen and its associated risk factors.

Methods: In a descriptive cross-sectional study, a self-administered questionnaire was developed and distributed among consumers attending community pharmacies in Sana’a city, Yemen. Chi-square test was used to identify the risk factors associated with self-medication with antibiotics.

Results: The prevalence of antibiotics use during self-medication was 87.1 % (58.2 % of males and 41.8 % of females). Among all respondents, only 49.5 % were aware of bacterial resistance due to antibiotic use. The majority of illness/symptoms treated with antibiotics during self-medication were common cold, cough, diarrhea and fever. The high cost of physician consultation was the main reason for self-medication with antibiotics. The most common source of information was community drug dispensers. Although different factors were assessed, no association could be found between factors like age, gender, material status, educational status, employment, monthly income or knowledge regarding bacterial resistance and self-medication with antibiotics.

Conclusion: Self-medication with antibiotics is high among consumers in Sana’a City, Yemen

Keywords: Self-medication, Antibiotics, Community pharmacies, Sanaâ€™a City, Yemen