Abstract

Background: Self-medications the practice of taking medicines to cure any illness without any prescription from a healthcare provider. The prevalence of self-medication among university students is remarkably high globally and varies from country to country. This study determined the prevalence of self-medication and the sources of drugs used for self-medication among undergraduate students enrolled at the faculty of health sciences, Lira University.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted among 228 undergraduate students enrolled at the Faculty of Health Sciences, selected by stratified systematic random sampling. Data were collected using selfadministered semi-structured questionnaires and analysed with SPSS version 20 statistical software.

Results: A total of 199 participants were interviewed. The overall prevalence of self-medication was 59.3%. Headache, body weakness, fever, flue, lack of appetite, and lower abdominal pain were reported as the most common complaints related to self-medication practice. Regarding the sources of drugs used for self-medication, 16.9% borrowed from friends/relatives, 11.0% used left-overs, 59.3% bought from drug shops and 12.7% from community drug shops.

Conclusion/recommendation: There is a need to educate the health science students about the disadvantages and the impacts of Self-Medication especially with prescription-only drugs not merely assuming they know as upcoming health professionals. There is a need to enforce the existing laws to discourage uncontrolled access to prescription-only drugs without prescription from trained healthcare providers and access to drug shops and pharmacies around student community.