Self-Medication with Analgesics: Knowledge and Attitudes of Senior Medical Students and Interns at King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Aim: The study was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitudes of clinical years’ medical students and interns towards self-medications with analgesics, King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Methodology: A cross-sectional study design was conducted among senior medical students (4th- 6th year) and interns at the medical college of KAU. A multistage stratified random sampling technique was used. A confidential, validated, self-administered questionnaire was used. It inquired about personal and socio-demographic information. It contained 10 questions asked about their knowledge concerning self-medication with analgesics. The knowledge score was calculated, ranged from 0-10. It was categorized into: satisfactory score (≥7), fair score (5 - <7) and poor score (< 5). Their attitudes towards analgesic self-medication were determined through rating 10 attitudes’ statements on a 3-points Likert scale. Descriptive and inferential statists were done.

Results: Only 48% of the participants obtained a satisfactory knowledge score about self-medication with analgesics. Males had a significantly lower level of knowledge compared to females (X2=11.41, P <0.001). After controlling confounding factors in logistic regression, the first predictor of having a satisfactory knowledge score about self-medication with analgesics was being in a higher educational grade (aOR; 2.35, 95% CI: 1.54 - 3.58), followed by female gender. Regarding attitude, 70.8% of respondents agreed that self-medication with analgesics can cause side effects.

Conclusion: Some lack of knowledge about self-medication with analgesics was found among our participants. However, the participants had sound attitudes towards some its issues. Knowledge of medical students and interns about self-medications needs improvement through more educational and training programs.