Self‑medication of irritable bowel syndrome and dyspepsia: How appropriate is it?

Self‑medication is common among patients with gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. This study was performed to evaluate self‑medication among patients who fulfilled irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and dyspepsia diagnostic criteria and to investigate the appropriateness of self‑medication with chemical and herbal drugs.

Aprospective, descriptive cross‑sectional study was conducted in outpatient’s GI clinics at Shiraz from November 2011 to May 2012. A GI specialist visited the patients and recruited those who had IBS (base on Rome III adapted criteria) or functional dyspepsia. We surveyed self‑medication among these patients, using a questionnaire containing specific questions about self‑medication.

One thousand four hundred and forty‑seven patients visited by the GI specialist during the study period. Seven hundred and forty‑seven patients had the inclusion criteria, 337 of them fulfilled criteria for IBS, with IBS‑mixed (52%) being the most prevalent subtype, and 410 patients had dyspepsia. Overall, 78.8% of the total participants had recently sought medical attention for their GI complaint. Twenty‑eight percent of patients selected inappropriate medication for their GI complaints. The H2‑blockers class were most common medicines reportedly used. We did not find any significant relationship between age, gender, level of education, marital status, and self‑medication frequency.

Patients who fulfilled criteria for IBS had a high tendency to self‑treat their GI symptoms, use of acid‑suppressive agents was common among patients. Around one‑third of patients self‑treated GI symptoms inappropriately. Consequently, the concept of self‑medication among patients has to be revised. We recommend conduction of educational programs to improve self‑medications selection and attitude among patients to reduce the burden on other health care resources.