Abstract:
Abstract
Introduction: Self-medication defined as selection and use of medicines by individuals to treat
self-recognized illnesses or symptoms. Worldwide, the prevalence of ophthalmic self-medication
ranges from 23.3% to 73.6 %. When ophthalmic patients use ophthalmic medicine without the
consultation of the eye care profession, issues of safety and inappropriateness of use arise.
Irrational use of ophthalmic medicines can aggravate the disease and make the prescribed
treatment outcome poor. Therefore, it is essential to know the proportion and associated factors
of ocular self-medication practice to respond appropriately.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the proportion of ophthalmic self-medication
practice and associated factors among adult ophthalmic patients attending Borumeda hospital,
Northeast Ethiopia, 2019.
Methods: An institution based cross-sectional study design was conducted at Borumeda hospital
from April 29 to May 24, 2019. Systematic random sampling technique was used. Data were
collected with a face-to-face interview by using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data were
entered into Epi Info 7 and analyzed by SPSS 20. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic
regression analysis were employed. P-values of less than 0.05 was considered statistically
significant.
Results: A total of 402 participants with a response rate of 98.7% were involved. Of those,
60.9% were male. The median ages of participants were 42 years with interquartile range of 32
years. The proportion of ophthalmic self-medication was 28.6% [95% CI; 24.6-33.3]. Age group
29-42 years [AOR: 2.19, 95% CI: 1.06-4.52], absence of health insurance [AOR: 4.29; 2.357.84],
more than 10 kilometer traveling distance to get eye services [AOR: 3.11; 1.58-6.12],
previous experience of ocular illness [AOR: 2.62, 95% CI: 1.53-4.48], family or friend
experience of ocular illness [AOR: 2.65, 95%CI: 1.43-4.92], availability of ophthalmic medicine
bottle/ tube at home [AOR: 4.59, 95% CI: 2.36-8.92] and poor knowledge about hazards of selfmedication
[AOR: 6.22; 3.26-11.85] were significantly associated with ophthalmic selfmedication.
Conclusion and recommendations: The proportion of ophthalmic self-medication was 28.6%.
Absence of health insurance, positive history of previous ocular illness, positive family or friends
experience of ocular illness, availability of eye medication bottle /tube at home, far-traveling
distance to get eye care services, poor knowledge about hazards of self-medication were
significantly associated factors with ophthalmic self-medication practice. Scale up health
insurance coverage, dispose of leftover eye medication bottle/tube from the house, improve
knowledge of patients, nearby accessible eye care services is necessary.
Keywords: ophthalmic patient, self-medication, practice, Dessie, Ethiopia
