title: Self medication or self care: implication for primary health care strategies.
abstract: To determine the frequency of self-medication, a cross-sectional study was conducted in a Karachi district by selecting households through systematic random sampling. Health seeking behaviour for childhood illnesses and assessment of the magnitude and reasons for self-medication were done by interviewing mothers/caretakers. Five hundred households were visited, of which 158 fulfilled the criteria of having one sick child in the previous month. Medication without prescription was given to 51.3% children, mostly consisting of unidentified drugs or analgesics/antipyretics. Good past experience (61.3%) with the medicine was the main reason for self-medication. The use of medicines by health professionals was the main reason influencing parents for self-medication to their children. Self-medication is difficult to eliminate, but interventions can be made to discourage use of inappropriate and harmful drugs.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Health Sciences, Baqai University, Karachi.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haider
authors.forename: I H
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Thaver
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D010154:Pakistan / Q000453:epidemiology; D011050:Policy Making; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000592:standards / Q000639:trends; D012651:Self Medication / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*