Evaluation of self medication and related factors in older people in Kermanshah in 2014

Introduction and Self-medication is a common phenomenon which frequently happening among elderly. The goal of this study was to investigate self medication and associated factors among elderly.
This descriptive study used random cluster sampling method to recruit 270 elderly living in Kermanshah city. Upon obtaining written consent form, data were collected using series of self-reported questionnaire. Face validity and content validity of the questionnaires were obtained and reliability was assessed using Cranach’s Alpha (0.85). Data was analyzed by SPSS version 20 using Kruskal-Wallis and chi-square tests
Findings: Our findings indicated that majority of elderly (90%) participated in this study practiced self-medication during the last 3 months. Analgesics, medicines for cold and herbal medicines were mostly used in self-medication. Colds, headaches and gastrointestinal problems were diseases that mostly treated by self-medication. The most important factors associated with self-medication were underestimation of the disease, belief in the safety of herbal medicines, expensive cost of medical appointment and satisfaction from previous self-medication. However, there was no significant relationships between self-medication and demographic factors including age, sex, marital status, education, job and income.
High prevalence of self-medication among elderly population calls for increasing their awareness on adverse consequences of self-medication. Promoting awareness on self-medication is possible through education and health promotion.