Self-Medication with Analgesics among Community Pharmacy Clients in Yenagoa, Nigeria: Patterns, Demographic Correlates and Public Health Implications

Vollständiger Abstract

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Background: Self-medication is a global public health practice conventionally dominated by analgesics, antipyretics and antimicrobials, yet the demographic structure of this behaviour and its association with information sources remain poorly characterised in Nigerian community pharmacy settings. Objective: To determine the prevalence, patterns and demographic correlates of self-medication among community pharmacy clients in Yenagoa Local Government Area (LGA), Bayelsa State, Nigeria, with particular attention to analgesic use and headache as the leading drug category and indication, respectively. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive survey was conducted among 554 adult clients of community pharmacies in Yenagoa LGA, selected through stratified random sampling and interviewed using a structured, supervisor-validated questionnaire. Data on socio-demographic characteristics, self-medication practice, drug categories, indications and information sources were analysed descriptively; Pearson's chi-square tests, supplemented by Cramér's V as a measure of effect size, were used to test associations between socio-demographic variables and drug category, indication and information source. Statistical significance was set at p