Associations between Self-medication, Health Literacy, and Self-perceived Health Status: A Community-Based Study.
BACKGROUND
Although the frequency of self-medication has been well-documented in the public health literature, but no study has examined the relationship between health literacy and self-medication yet. This study was aimed to investigating the relationship between health literacy and self-medication in a community-based study.


METHODS
This cross-sectional study was conducted on 924 adults to survey association between health literacy and self-medication among peoples in Ardabil city in 2014 who were selected using a multi-stage random sampling method. Health literacy was measured by the test of functional health literacy in adults and general health status was measured by the 12-item General Health Questionnaire, and self-reported self-medication (overall, sedative, antibiotic and herbal) in last 3 months was assessed. All statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS version 18 and a P < 0.05 was considered significant.


RESULTS
The mean age and weight of respondents were 37 years and 74.7 kg, respectively. The prevalence of self-medication was 61.6%, and the percentage of self-administering antibiotics, sedative, and herbal medicines were 40%, 54.4%, and 59.1% in the last 3 months, respectively. Significant relationship was found between of total health literacy and general health status with self-medication. The prevalence of self-medication among participants with poor and very poor self-rated physical and mental health was significantly higher than other participants (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Self-medication had a significant relationship with health literacy and health status. Therefore, the design and implementation of training programs are necessary to increase the perception on the risk of self-medication.
Department of Public Health, Khalkhal Faculty of Medical Sciences, Ardabil University of Medical Sciences, Ardabil, Iran.
Aziz
A
Kamran
Department of Health Education and Promotion, School of Health, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
Gholamreza
G
Sharifirad
Department of Plastic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Yousef
Y
Shafaeei
Department of Public Health, School of Health, Qom University of Medical Sciences, Qom, Iran.
Siamak
S
Mohebi
Health literacy; health status; self-medication