Table 3.
Reasons of using self-medication – Means of Likert questions
| Modern Medicine (n=101) | Traditional medicine (n=59) | p-value | |||||||
| Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Mean (±SD) | Disagree | Neutral | Agree | Mean (±SD) | ||
| Confidence in self-prescribing | |||||||||
| The symptoms of my child are minor and do not require a health facility consultation |
29 (28.8%) | 0 (0%) | 72 (71.2%) | 3.56 (±1.08) | 23 (40%) | 1 (1.7%) | 35 (59.3%) | 3.31 (±1.14) | p=0.164 |
| I can recognize my child's disease based on his/her symptoms |
35 (34.7%) | 0 (0%) | 66 (65.3%) | 3.39 (±1.07) | 27 (45.8%) | 0 (0%) | 32(54.2%) | 3.22 (±1.21) | p=0.477 |
| I have used drug previously |
24 (23.8%) | 1 (1%) | 76 (75.2%) | 3.64 (±1.04) | 24 (40.8%) | 0 (0%) | 35 (59.3%) | 3.31 (±1.22) | p=0.111 |
| I want to give emergency treatment to my child |
13 (12.9%) | 1 (1%) | 87 (86.1%) | 3.83 (±0.81) | 31 (52.6%) | 0 (0%) | 28 (47.4%) | 3.00 (±1.17) | p<0.001 |
| Non-prescription medicines work well |
27 (26.7%) | 6 (6%) | 68 (67.3%) | 3.37 (±1.02) | 20 (34%) | 3 (5%) | 36 (61%) | 3.27 (±1.04) | p=0.558 |
| Non-prescription medicines are not dangerous |
28 (27.8%) | 4 (4%) | 69 (68.3%) | 3.38 (±1.01) | 22 (37.3%) | 3 (5%) | 34 (57.7%) | 3.24 (±1.10) | p=0.441 |
| Total confidence score | - | - | - | 21.2 (±3.25) | - | - | - | 19.3 (±4.38) | p=0.005 |
|
Barriers to consultation | |||||||||
| I don't have health insurance |
89 (88.1%) | 0 (0%) | 12 (11.9%) | 2.06 (±1.00) | 51 (86.4%) | 0 (0%) | 8 (13.6%) | 2.14 (±0.99) | p=0.484 |
| Consultations fees are high |
88 (87.1%) | 2 (2%) | 11 (10.9%) | 2.06 (±0.83) | 53 (89.8%) | 1 (1.7%) | 5 (8.5%) | 2.08 (±0.81) | p=0.725 |
| I spent lot of time waiting when I consult a health facility |
60 (59.4%) | 2 (2%) | 39 (38.6%) | 2.84 (±1.18) | 44 (74.6%) | 1 (1.7%) | 14 (23.7%) | 2.53 (±1.04) | p=0.106 |
| The health facility is far from my home |
81 (80.2%) | 0 (0%) | 20 (19.8%) | 2.34 (±0.89) | 54 (91.5%) | 0 (0%) | 5 (8.5%) | 2.14 (±0.60) | p=0.250 |
| I don't have time to go to a health facility |
71 (70.3%) | 1 (1%) | 29 (28.7%) | 2.53 (±1.11) | 53 (89.8%) | 0 (0%) | 6 (10.2%) | 2.03 (±0.76) | p=0.004 |
| Total barriers score | - | - | - | 11.8 (±3.18) | - | - | - | 10.9 (±2.69) | p=0.028 |
Likert scale: 1=strongly disagree; 2=disagree; 3=neutral;4=agree; 5=strongly agree. P-value: Mann-Whitney U-test Comparison of means