Self-medication with antibiotics in rural population in Greece: a cross-sectional multicenter study
| Autor: | Irene Zarbala, Alexios Vasibosis, Athanasia Papazafiropoulou, Alexios Sotiropoulos, Ioannis Tsakanikas, Petroula Stamataki, Aristofanis Gikas, Panagiotis Merkouris, Christos Papafragos, George Matzouranis, Eystathios Skliros |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Předmět: |
Adult
Male Rural Population medicine.medical_specialty Fever medicine.drug_class Cross-sectional study Antibiotics Common Cold Self Medication Environmental health Surveys and Questionnaires Health care Epidemiology medicine Humans Medical prescription Intensive care medicine lcsh:R5-920 Greece Primary Health Care business.industry Public health Pharyngitis Middle Aged Anti-Bacterial Agents Cross-Sectional Studies Female Rural Health Services Rural area lcsh:Medicine (General) business Family Practice Self-medication Research Article |
| Zdroj: | BMC Family Practice BMC Family Practice, Vol 11, Iss 1, p 58 (2010) |
| ISSN: | 1471-2296 |
| DOI: | 10.1186/1471-2296-11-58 |
| Popis: | Background Self-medication is an important driver of antimicrobial overuse as well as a worldwide problem. The aim of the present study was to estimate the use of antibiotics, without medical prescription, in a sample of rural population presenting in primary care in southern Greece. Methods The study included data from 1,139 randomly selected adults (545 men/594 women, mean age ± SD: 56.2 ± 19.8 years), who visited the 6 rural Health Centres of southern Greece, between November 2009 and January 2010. The eligible participants were sought out on a one-to-one basis and asked to answer an anonymous questionnaire. Results Use of antibiotics within the past 12 months was reported by 888 participants (77.9%). 508 individuals (44.6%) reported that they had received antibiotics without medical prescription at least one time. The major source of self-medication was the pharmacy without prescription (76.2%). The antibiotics most frequently used for self-medication were amoxicillin (18.3%), amoxicillin/clavulanic acid (15.4%), cefaclor (9.7%), cefuroxim (7.9%), cefprozil (4.7%) and ciprofloxacin (2.3%). Fever (41.2%), common cold (32.0%) and sore throat (20.6%) were the most frequent indications for the use of self-medicated antibiotics. Conclusion In Greece, despite the open and rapid access to primary care services, it appears that a high proportion of rural adult population use antibiotics without medical prescription preferably for fever and common cold. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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