Table 3.

Bivariate analysis of the factors affecting self-medication practice.

Variables and Categories	p-Value	COR 95% CI [LL–UL]
Gender Ref. (Female)
Male	<0.001	2.33 [1.86–2.92]
Age (Ref. >60 Years)
≤30 Years	0.680	0.88 [0.48–1.63]
31 to 60 years	0.250	1.45 [0.77–2.74]
Years of schooling (Ref. No schooling)
< 10 years	0.290	1.25 [0.83–1.91]
10 years	0.153	1.36 [0.89–2.09]
11–12 years	0.128	1.46 [0.90–2.37]
>12 years	<0.001	5.43 [2.99–9.84]
Marital status (Ref. Married)
Unmarried	0.466	0.92 [0.74–1.15]
Divorced/widowed	0.407	0.68 [0.27–1.70]
Occupation (Ref. Government sector)
Farmer	0.420	1.43 [0.60–3.43]
Day labor	0.051	0.43 [0.18–1.00]
Housewife	0.001	0.27 [0.13–0.58]
Business	0.044	2.35 [1.02–5.40]
Private sector	0.454	1.42 [0.57–3.54]
Others	0.111	0.56 [0.27–1.15]
Household income (Ref. >30,000 BDT)
<15,000 BDT	0.017	0.34 [0.14–0.83]
>15,000–30,000 BDT	0.210	0.57 [0.23–1.38]
Residence (Ref. Rural area)
Urban area	0.001	1.80 [1.29–2.51]
Family members (Ref. More than 6 members)
3–4 members	<0.001	2.57 [1.76–3.77]
5–6 members	<0.001	2.22 [1.51–3.26]
Religion (Ref. Others)
Islam	0.025	0.69 [0.50–0.95]
Smoking status (Ref. Non-smoker)
Smoker	<0.001	2.35 [1.72–3.23]
Health insurance (Ref. No)
Yes	<0.001	2.45 [1.54–3.92]
Member of a social group (Ref. No)
Yes	<0.001	2.29 [1.73–3.03]
Health status check (after every 6 months) (Ref. No)
Yes	<0.001	2.06 [1.54–2.75]
Knowledge of drug used (Ref. Inadequate)
Adequate	0.024	2.71 [1.14–6.45]
Present illness (Ref. No)
Yes	<0.001	1.66 [1.32–2.08]
Most frequent treatment modality (Ref. Quackery)
Modern	<0.001	0.39 [0.24–0.63]
Homeopathy	0.241	0.74 [0.44–1.23]
Herbal	0.339	0.73 [0.38–1.40]
Ayurvedic	0.951	0.97 [0.35–2.69]

Note: COR: crude odds ratio, CI: confidence interval, LL: lower limit, UL: upper limit.