The Prevalence and Effective Modifiable Factors of Self-Medication Based on the Health Belief Model among Elderly Adults in Gonabad in 2009

Maintaining health, as one of the main and old concerns of mankind, is influenced by various factors. Therefore, global health-related declarations and strategies emphasize proper drug provision and consumption, as well as effective treatments. Self-medication, a controversial health issue, is three times commoner in Iran than the world average record which makes the country stand the second in Asia. Investigating the causes of self-medication based on the Health Belief Model (HBM) is a scientific and effective method to control the problem. Thus, this study attempted to identify and rank the factors associated with self-medication. In this cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study, 380 elderly adults were selected based on stratified random sampling with proper ratios. The data were collected through structured interviews using a 47-item questionnaire which covered the HBM subsections. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire were confirmed. The data were analyzed through SPSS16. The age average of the participants was 66 ± 5.31. Moreover, 36.10% of the subjects were retired, 29.40% had an education of primary school level, 53.90% were under the support of social insurance, 77.60% consumed over-the-counter drugs, 85.30% kept drugs at home, 42.30% took sedative drugs, and 15.10% consumed psychiatric drugs. The score for perceived sensitivity and barriers were 50.21 and 70.23, respectively.Self-medication was found to be significantly related with gender, marital status, and education level. In addition, a successful previous experience of self-medication and considering drugs as harmless were suggested as the main causes of self-medication. Furthermore, mass media were discovered to be the most effective solution to prevent self-medication. In this study, the prevalence of self-medication was high and the alterable factors were in undesirable conditions. Although the subjects did not show a minimum score of 50% in different subsections of HBM, the self-efficacy average was desirable which could lead a false sense of confidence and increased self-medication.