Prevalence and Patterns of Self-Medication Among Community Pharmacy Attendees in Sana’a City, Yemen

Abstract

Background: Self-medication, defined as taking medicines to treat self-reported symptoms or conditions without consulting a physician, is a major public health problem. Inappropriate self-medication can result in incorrect treatment, side effects, drug interactions, delayed diagnosis, and the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of self-medication and describe its patterns, reasons, medication classes, information sources, and associated sociodemographic characteristics among community pharmacy attendees in Sana’a City, Yemen.
Methods: A pharmacy-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 320 community pharmacy attendees in Sana’a City between December 2023 and January 2024. Ten pharmacies, one from each selected district, were included using a multistage sampling procedure, and eligible attendees were selected by systematic random sampling. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered by an interviewer. The Association between self-medication and participant characteristics was assessed using the chi-square or Fisher's exact test, as appropriate, with P <0.05 considered statistically significant.
Results: Among the 320 participants, 306 reported engaging in self-medication, resulting in a prevalence rate of 95.6%. The most frequently reported symptoms or conditions included headache (79.7%), influenza-like symptoms, colds, or cough (65.4%), body pain (45.8%), fever (33.7%), gastrointestinal symptoms or heartburn (21.2%), sore throat (20.6%), diarrhea (18.0%), and allergic symptoms or rash (17.6%). The most commonly used medication classes were analgesics (83.7%), antipyretics (72.2%), antibiotics (59.5%), gastrointestinal medicines (33.3%), and decongestants (27.5%). Pharmacists were identified as the most frequent source of medication information (78.4%). Reasons for self-medication included the perception that the illness was minor (72.2%), saving time and money (29.4%), lack of trust in physicians (23.9%), previous experience with the medicine (20.3%), and perceived pharmacological knowledge (19.6%). No significant associations were found between self-medication and any assessed sociodemographic, health, or lifestyle characteristics.
Conclusion: Self-medication is common among community pharmacy attendees in Sana’a City, with analgesics, antipyretics, and antibiotics commonly used and pharmacists serving as the primary source of medication information. Strengthening professional pharmacy counseling, responsible medicine dispensing, and referral practices is essential to reduce inappropriate use, adverse outcomes, delayed diagnosis, and AMR.