Evaluation of Self-medication and Related Factors in Elderly Population of Sanandaj, Iran

Self-medication is the most common form of self-care, which is affected by social and cultural factors. Due to underlying physical and mental diseases, the elderly people are more prone to use self-medication, compared to other age groups. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate self-medication and related factors in the elderly population of Sanandaj, Iran. This descriptive and analytical cross-sectional research was performed on 275 elderly people in Sanandaj in 2018. Subjects were selected through convenience sampling, and data were collected using the researcher-made questionnaire of self-medication. In addition, data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Chi-square, and logistic regression. Moreover, P-value of 0.05 was considered significant. In this study, 28.5% of the elderly subjects used self-medication in the past three months. According to the results, there was a correlation between being employed (P=0.004) and living with the spouse and children (P=0.047) with self-medication. Some of the most important causes of self-medication among the elderly population included financial problems and difficulties in scheduling doctor appointments. Furthermore, the most commonly used drugs were analgesics (43.1%), cold tablets (26.4%) and cardiovascular drugs (20.8%). According to the results of the study, there was a high prevalence rate of self-medication among the elderly population. Considering the damages caused by self-medication, designing specific education programs for the elderlies seems essential.