The prevalence of self-medication and its related factors in the elderly of Qochan in 2018

Self-medication is one of the serious health problems in different communities and its risk is much higher in the elderly. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of self-medication in the elderly and its related factors in Quchan city, 2019.

The current research is a cross-sectional descriptive study, the samples of which were 570 elderly people of Qochan city. The participants of the study were selected using random cluster sampling. Research data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 19 by independent t-test and ANOVA.

The mean age of the elderly was 69.1± 8.1 years. The prevalence of self-medication among the elderly was 94.4%. There was a significant association between the variables of gender, level of education and occupation and self-medication (P <0.001). Factors such as the high cost of doctor visits and medications, the belief that disease is not important, the satisfaction of previous self-medication, the belief that herbal medicines and traditional treatments are safe, were the main factors of self-medication.

The findings of this study showed that self-medication is highly prevalent among Iranian elderly, and providing awareness about the dangers of self-medication seems essential.