FACTORS INFLUENCING SELF-MEDICATION WITH ANTIBIOTICSAMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS OF INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OFNURSING AND MIDWIFERY-MAYA, WAKISO DISTRICT.

Abstract

Self-medication with antibiotics is a common practice among medical students, posing significant
public health risks, including antibiotic resistance, adverse drug reactions, and masking of
underlying diseases. The study mainly focused on assessing for the factors influencing self-
medication with antibiotics among medical students of International School of Nursing &
Midwifery- Maya, Wakiso District where demographic factors, hospital related factors and the
different sources of antibiotics were the major areas of focus. A cross-sectional study design was
employed, utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire to collect data from 96 students selected
through simple random sampling. The results indicate a high prevalence of antibiotic self-
medication, driven by demographic factors such as age (55.8%) and gender (58.1%) and having a
relative in the health profession (67.4%), hospital related factors including high consultation fees
(68.6%), lack of time to visit the facility (73.3%), difficult access to the facility (38.4%) and
unfriendly nature of the health workers (57.0%) and the common source of antibiotics used for
self-medication were community pharmacies 44(51.1%) and drug shops 18(20.9%). The common
conditions for which antibiotics were obtained were flue/cold 46(53.5%) and urinary tract infection
26(30.2%) where the commonly used antibiotics included amoxicillin, ampicillin/cloxacillin, and
metronidazole. The study concluded that hospital related factors are the precipitating factors
contributing to self-medication among the students. The study recommended that addressing these
factors through public health initiatives and stricter regulations on antibiotic sales could reduce the
prevalence of self-medication and its associated risks.