title: Medicine Vendors: Self-medication Practices and Medicine Knowledge.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Medicine vendors fill the gap created by inadequate skilled professionals required for medicine procurement, storage, and distribution in developing countries.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate self-medication practice and medicine knowledge among medicine vendors and to determine if a relationship exists between both.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted, using a pretested questionnaire on 236 medicine vendors in Jos, Nigeria, sampled through a two-stage stratified design. Data collected were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 16, and the chi-square test was used to determine the association between variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Self-medication was common (75.4%) among respondents and was not associated (P>0.05) with any of the demographic characteristics studied. The classes of medicines commonly used by respondents for self-medication were analgesics (31.4%), anti-malarials (22.6%), multivitamins (17.7%), and antibiotics (11.25%). A knowledge assessment test revealed that only 34.3% of the respondents had adequate knowledge. There was no significant (P>0.05) relationship between self-medication practice and medicine knowledge, among the respondents. However, the medicine knowledge scores were significantly (P<0.05) associated with holding a certificate in health sciences, years of experience, and the place of practice of the medicine vendors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study demonstrated that self-medication practice was high and inadequate medicine knowledge existed among respondents.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria.
authors.forename: Asa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Auta
authors.forename: Simeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Omale
authors.forename: Temitope J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Folorunsho
authors.forename: Shalkur
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: David
authors.forename: Samuel B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Banwat