Table 1.
Association of socio-demographic and clinical variables with self-medication practice.
| Variables | Total N = 1320 |
Self-Medication | χ2 | p-Value | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No | Yes | |||||||
| n | % | n | % | n | % | |||
| Gender | ||||||||
| Male | 672 | 50.9 | 328 | 48.8 | 344 | 51.2 | 55.38 | <0.001 |
| Female | 648 | 49.1 | 447 | 69.0 | 201 | 31.0 | ||
| Age in years | ||||||||
| ≤30 | 915 | 69.3 | 569 | 62.2 | 346 | 37.8 | 16.22 | <0.001 |
| 31 to 60 | 361 | 27.3 | 180 | 49.9 | 181 | 50.1 | ||
| >60 | 44 | 3.3 | 26 | 59.1 | 18 | 40.9 | ||
| Years of schooling | ||||||||
| <10 years | 510 | 38.6 | 315 | 61.8 | 195 | 38.2 | 43.31 | <0.001 |
| 10 years | 425 | 32.2 | 254 | 59.8 | 171 | 40.2 | ||
| 11–12 years | 172 | 13.0 | 100 | 58.1 | 72 | 41.9 | ||
| >12 years | 92 | 7.0 | 25 | 27.2 | 67 | 72.8 | ||
| No schooling | 121 | 9.2 | 81 | 66.9 | 40 | 33.1 | ||
| Marital status | ||||||||
| Unmarried | 682 | 51.7 | 406 | 59.5 | 276 | 40.5 | 1.09 | 0.580 |
| Divorced/widowed | 21 | 1.6 | 14 | 66.7 | 7 | 33.3 | ||
| Married | 617 | 46.7 | 355 | 57.5 | 262 | 42.5 | ||
| Occupation | ||||||||
| Farmer | 63 | 4.8 | 23 | 36.5 | 40 | 63.5 | 107.41 | <0.001 |
| Day labor | 76 | 5.8 | 50 | 65.8 | 26 | 34.2 | ||
| Housewife | 307 | 23.3 | 231 | 75.2 | 76 | 24.8 | ||
| Business | 104 | 7.9 | 27 | 26.0 | 77 | 74.0 | ||
| Private | 49 | 3.7 | 18 | 36.7 | 31 | 63.3 | ||
| Others a | 690 | 52.3 | 412 | 59.7 | 278 | 40.3 | ||
| Government | 31 | 2.3 | 14 | 45.2 | 17 | 54.8 | ||
| Household income per month | ||||||||
| <15,000 BDT | 938 | 71.1 | 586 | 62.5 | 352 | 37.5 | 20.57 | <0.001 |
| 15,000–30,000 BDT | 360 | 27.3 | 181 | 50.3 | 179 | 49.7 | ||
| >30,000 BDT | 22 | 1.7 | 8 | 36.4 | 14 | 63.6 | ||
| Residence | ||||||||
| Urban area | 161 | 12.2 | 74 | 46.0 | 87 | 54.0 | 12.30 | <0.001 |
| Rural area | 1159 | 87.8 | 701 | 60.5 | 458 | 39.5 | ||
| Religion | ||||||||
| Islam | 1156 | 87.6 | 692 | 59.9 | 464 | 40.1 | 5.07 | 0.024 |
| Others b | 164 | 12.4 | 83 | 50.6 | 81 | 49.4 | ||
| Family members | ||||||||
| 3–4 members | 592 | 44.8 | 322 | 54.4 | 270 | 45.6 | 24.83 | <0.001 |
| 5–6 members | 553 | 41.9 | 321 | 58.0 | 232 | 42.0 | ||
| Above 6 members | 175 | 13.3 | 132 | 75.4 | 43 | 24.6 | ||
| Smoking status | ||||||||
| Smoker | 187 | 14.2 | 76 | 40.6 | 111 | 59.4 | 29.35 | <0.001 |
| Non-smoker | 1133 | 85.8 | 699 | 61.7 | 434 | 38.3 | ||
| Health insurance | ||||||||
| Yes | 79 | 6.0 | 30 | 38.0 | 49 | 62.0 | 14.91 | <0.001 |
| No | 1241 | 94.0 | 745 | 60.0 | 496 | 40.0 | ||
| Member of a social group | ||||||||
| Yes | 249 | 18.9 | 105 | 42.2 | 144 | 57.8 | 34.65 | <0.001 |
| No | 1071 | 81.1 | 670 | 62.6 | 401 | 37.4 | ||
| Health status check (after every 6 months) | ||||||||
| Yes | 223 | 16.9 | 98 | 43.9 | 125 | 56.1 | 24.14 | <0.001 |
| No | 1097 | 83.1 | 677 | 61.7 | 420 | 38.3 | ||
| Knowledge of drug used | ||||||||
| Adequate | 23 | 1.7 | 8 | 34.8 | 15 | 65.2 | 5.53 | 0.019 |
| Inadequate | 1297 | 98.3 | 767 | 59.1 | 530 | 40.9 | ||
| Present illness | ||||||||
| Yes | 483 | 36.6 | 246 | 50.9 | 237 | 49.1 | 19.02 | <0.001 |
| No | 837 | 63.4 | 529 | 63.2 | 308 | 36.8 | ||
| Under treatment | ||||||||
| Yes | 473 | 35.8 | 240 | 50.7 | 233 | 49.3 | 19.33 | <0.001 |
| No | 847 | 64.2 | 535 | 63.2 | 312 | 36.8 | ||
| Most frequent treatment modality | ||||||||
| Modern | 873 | 66.1 | 563 | 64.5 | 310 | 35.5 | 37.24 | <0.001 |
| Homeopathy | 284 | 21.5 | 139 | 48.9 | 145 | 51.1 | ||
| Herbal | 69 | 5.2 | 34 | 49.3 | 35 | 50.7 | ||
| Ayurvedic | 19 | 1.4 | 8 | 42.1 | 11 | 57.9 | ||
| Quackery | 75 | 5.7 | 31 | 41.3 | 44 | 58.7 | ||
Note: a = includes fishermen, garments workers, vehicles driver, swipers, and unemployed b = includes Hindu, Christian, Buddhist.