Self Medication Against COVID19 Infection: Assessment of Practices among Residents in a Semi Urban Nigerian Community

Aims: The prevalence of self-medication worldwide has been on the increase especially with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Even though self-medication can reduce pressure on the healthcare, the seeming downsides is overwhelming especially with the lockdown in the COVID-19 era. This study is thus set to understand the prevalence and nature of self-medication against COVID-19 among Individuals in Nsukka Town.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey based on descriptive non-experimental research designed to investigate the prevalence and practices of self-medication against COVID-19 was conducted within the Nsukka town of Enugu state, Nigeria. A 20-item structured, self-administered questionnaire was administered to a population consisting of Health workers, Road Transport workers and market women. Microsoft Excel 2016 and SPSS version 21.0 were used to analyze the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to summarize the data.

Results: A total of 840 responses were received. Participants aged 35-44 (262, 29.6%) and males (592, 67%) were the highest in the study. A 38.0% of the respondents have a tertiary education certificate while a 36.5% are traders. Nearly half (45.5%) of the participants were married. Participants indulgence in general self-medication (439, 49.7%) was higher than indulged in self-medication to prevent COVID-19 (415, 46.9%). Most self-medication was done largely to prevent COVID-19 infection. Among the drugs commonly self-medicated are dexamethasone (6.2%) and vitamin C (6%) closely followed prednisolone (3.8%). A few of the participants had “no trust in doctor” (1.8%) while an equal number “have medicines of family members” (1.8%).

Conclusion: Approximately half of the respondents reported to have self-medicated to prevent COVID-19. Dexamethasone and Vitamin C were most commonly used drugs. The only factor associated with COVID-19 self-medication was gender where being a female was associated with self-medicating against COVID-19. Concerted efforts are needed to educate the public on the dangers of self-medication and the need to access medical attention and information from healthcare professionals during pandemics.