title: Self-medication with antibiotics in rural population in Greece: a cross-sectional multicenter study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Self-medication is an important driver of antimicrobial overuse as well as a worldwide problem. The aim of the present study was to estimate the use of antibiotics, without medical prescription, in a sample of rural population presenting in primary care in southern Greece.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included data from 1,139 randomly selected adults (545 men/594 women, mean age +/- SD: 56.2 +/- 19.8 years), who visited the 6 rural Health Centres of southern Greece, between November 2009 and January 2010. The eligible participants were sought out on a one-to-one basis and asked to answer an anonymous questionnaire.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Use of antibiotics within the past 12 months was reported by 888 participants (77.9%). 508 individuals (44.6%) reported that they had received antibiotics without medical prescription at least one time. The major source of self-medication was the pharmacy without prescription (76.2%). The antibiotics most frequently used for self-medication were amoxicillin (18.3%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (15.4%), cefaclor (9.7%), cefuroxim (7.9%), cefprozil (4.7%) and ciprofloxacin (2.3%). Fever (41.2%), common cold (32.0%) and sore throat (20.6%) were the most frequent indications for the use of self-medicated antibiotics.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Greece, despite the open and rapid access to primary care services, it appears that a high proportion of rural adult population use antibiotics without medical prescription preferably for fever and common cold.
authors.affiliation: 3rd Department of Internal Medicine and Center of Diabetes, General Hospital of Nikaia Ag, Panteleimon, Piraeus, Greecee.
authors.forename: Eystathios
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Skliros
authors.forename: Panagiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Merkouris
authors.forename: Athanasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Papazafiropoulou
authors.forename: Aristofanis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gikas
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Matzouranis
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Papafragos
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsakanikas
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zarbala
authors.forename: Alexios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vasibosis
authors.forename: Petroula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Stamataki
authors.forename: Alexios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sotiropoulos
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003139:Common Cold / Q000188:drug therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000188:drug therapy; D006115:Greece; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010612:Pharyngitis / Q000188:drug therapy; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019035:Rural Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012651:Self Medication / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents