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Background: Inappropriate drug use in self-medication with antimalarial drugs leads to
emergence of drug resistant pathogens, wastage of resources and poses serious health
hazards such as adverse reactions and prolonged suffering. Self-medication with
antimalarial drugs is rampant in the developing countries. Studies on the pattern of this
practice lack in Kenya.
Study Objective: To determine the magnitude and evaluate the factors associated with
self-medication with antimalarial drugs among adults in Gesima Location, Masaba
District.
Specific Objectives:
To determine the magnitude of self-medication with antimalarial drugs
To identify the reasons for self-medication with antimalarial drugs
To determine the sources of self-medicated antimalarial drugs
To establish the legal status of drug outlets in Gesima location
Study Area and Study Population: This study was carried out in Gesima location,
Masaba district, Nyanza province. All adults above 18 years irrespective of their gender
living in Gesima Location during the study period were considered. The study included
384 individuals.
Research design: This was a community based cross-sectional survey.
Research instruments: Data were collected by structured questionnaires and schedule
interviews.
Data analysis Data analysis was done using SPSS version 15 by frequency distribution
models, Chi-square test, Spearman rank correlation, logistic regression model and
parametric test (t-test) after data coding.
Results: This study established that 83.1% of the adults sampled self-medicated with
antimalarial drugs whenever they suspected to be suffering from malaria. There was a
significant negative correlation between the number of suspected malaria episodes and
the practice of self-medication. The main reasons given by the respondents for this
practice were convenience (87%), lower cost (83%) and that it saved time (76.4%). Only
3% of the self-medicated antimalarial drugs were Artemisinin-based Combination
Therapies, the government’s first line drug at the time of this study. Young age, medium
income levels and household size were the socio-economic factors found to be
associated with the practice in this study. Sources of antimalarial drugs used for selfmedication
were general shops, drug shops and mobile drug vendors. All sources selling
antimalarial drugs in Gesima location had no legal mandate to stock and dispense these
drugs.
Conclusions: There was a high magnitude of self-medication with antimalarial drugs
among adults of Gesima location.
Recommendations: This study reported a high magnitude of self-medication with
antimalarial drugs in Gesima Location. With the recorded evidence of high levels of
resistance to most of the antimalarial drugs used for self-medication in the location, there
is need for the training of the informal medicine sellers to become effective and safe
providers of antimalarial drugs. Public education activities on the importance of seeking
healthcare services from qualified professionals are also necessary and the government
needs to strengthen the regulatory control of the stocking and dispensing of antimalarial
drugs. |
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