TY - JOUR AU - Ramadan, Marwa AU - Eltaweel, Asmaa AU - El Nakhal, Tamwe AU - Hemead, Hanan AU - Maraqa, Abdelrahman AU - Abish, Doha AU - Essam, Rana AU - Baraka, Azza PY - 2018/05/10 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - Self-medication among Undergraduate Medical Students of Alexandria Faculty of Medicine: Where do We Stand? JF - International Journal of Medical Students JA - Int J Med Stud VL - 6 IS - 2 SE - Original Article DO - 10.5195/ijms.2018.41 UR - https://ijms.info/IJMS/article/view/41 SP - 52-55 AB - <p><strong>Background</strong>: The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of self-medication among undergraduate medical students in Alexandria Faculty of Medicine and recognize the patterns and the attitude of students towards intake.</p><p><strong>Methods</strong>: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students attending Alexandria Faculty of Medicine from both national and international programs during the period of June 2013 until October 2013. A self-administrated, semi-constructed questionnaire was used to assess the practice of self-medication among 408 students who were randomly selected using a stratified random sample technique.</p><p><strong>Results</strong>: Self-medication was reported by 208 (52.7%) students, with no significant difference between males and females. The highest percentage of self-medication was reported among those who have completed six years of academic study and the lowest was reported among those who have completed two years of academic study. There was a statistically significant association between educational stage (preclinical and clinical) practice of self-medication. Most common medications involved were analgesic and anti-inflammatory followed by decongestants, antimicrobials and antihistaminic drugs. 309 (78.8%) students believed that self-medication is acceptable.</p><p><strong>Conclusion</strong>: The present study demonstrated that self-medication is practiced by more than half of undergraduate medical students in the Faculty of Medicine - Alexandria University. Acquiring medical knowledge seems to be associated with the practice of self-medication. Therefore, more attention should be paid to medical curricula to raise awareness and limit the hazardous effects of this phenomenon</p> ER -