Prevalence of Self-Medication with Analgesics Among People Referring to Outpatient Dental Clinics in an Iranian Population

Self-medication is a behavior in which a person, without the use of professional advice, resolves his health problem. Self-medication is common in the world and considered as a growing public health problem.

The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of self-medication with analgesics for dental problems over a two-year period among a population in Shiraz, Iran.
Patients and

This cross-sectional study recruited 1,203 people. They were randomly selected from among men and women older than 12 with a mean age of 36.2 years, attending outpatient health clinics in 10 districts of Shiraz. A researcher-made questionnaire was used to collect data on demographic variables, dental pain, and self-care remedies utilized to combat dental pain. SPSS version 22 software was used for statistical analysis by the chi-square test and one-way ANOVA. The values of P < 0.05 were considered significant.

The prevalence of self-medication was 56.1% and the most common reasons for self-medication were having severe pain (35.3%), having prior experience (15.9%), and the high cost of dental visits (13.5%). The most common self-used drugs were Ibuprofen (29.42%) and Acetaminophen (21.61%). Self-medication was not significantly related to variables such as educational level, gender, and marital status and was related to age and salary.

As found in our study, the high prevalence of self-medication is a major concern. There is a need for health education on indications and risks of self-medication.