title: Self-medication practices and risk factors for self-medication among medical students in Belgrade, Serbia.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Self-medication among future health care professionals can represent a serious threat to professionalism in medicine and it has potential to put at risk public trust into this profession. The aim of this research was to investigate prevalence and risk factors for self-medication among population of medical students, because it was previously shown that their attitudes towards pharmacotherapy could affect the way they could prescribe medication in the future.
  
  
  METHODS
  Research was performed as a cross-sectional study and it included 1296 (84.1%) 1st, 3rd and 6th year students of School of Medicine, University of Belgrade. Students filled out a demographic and self-medication questionnaire created for the purpose of this research and the Physical Health Questionnaire - 9 (PHQ-9). Questions about self-medication were related to the period of the previous year.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Self-medication was reported by 79.9% students. The most frequently self-prescribed medications were analgesics (55.4%). Independent risk factors for self-medication were possession of home-pharmacies (OR = 5.3, CI 95% 3.89-7.23), lower level of father's education (OR = 1.6, CI 95% 1.18-2.25), consumption of alcoholic beverages (OR = 1.5, CI 95% 1.13-2.08), less than 1 hour spent in physical activity per week (OR = 1.4, CI 95% 1.00-2.02), female gender (OR = 1.4, CI 95% 1.02-1.89), older age (OR = 1.1, CI 95% 1.07-1.21) and higher PHQ-9 score (OR = 1.09, CI 95% 1.05-1.12).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Self-medication is an important issue among population of medical students. Prevalence of self-medication could be controlled through regulatory authorities and further education.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Jasminka Adzic
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Lukovic
authors.affiliation: Association for Mental Health Promotion, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Vladimir
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Miletic
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Tatjana
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pekmezovic
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Statistics and Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Goran
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trajkovic
authors.affiliation: Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Nevena
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ratkovic
authors.affiliation: Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Danijela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aleksic
authors.affiliation: Institute of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grgurevic
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D012651:Self Medication / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055771:Serbia; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult