Self-Medication of Antibiotics among Healthcare Providers Antibiotic Self-Medication

Abstract

The knowledge of antibiotics (types, dosage form, dose etc), and behaviors of usage of antibiotics (frequency, side effects, resistance etc) of healthcare providers (medical practitioners, dentists, pharmacists, nurses) were assessed in this cross-sectional study. According to this study, more than half of the healthcare providers used antibiotics for themselves without getting a prescription from their colleagues, i.e., they were involved in self-medication of antibiotics. Compared to healthcare providers who kept their medications in proper storage like refrigerators, those providers who preferred to keep them in cabinets were less likely to be involved in self-medication. This study determined that it is crucial to implement educational initiatives that specifically target healthcare providers in order to deter inappropriate self-medication of drugs especially those drugs which require prescriptions from registered medical practitioners. This study findings also encourage healthcare bodies to design and implement strict guidelines to discourage self-medication of drugs among healthcare providers.