مرکز منطقه ای اطلاع رساني علوم و فناوري - Attitudes and behavior of drug usage in applicants to primary health care center

Abstract :

Objectives: The aim of the study was to determine the attitude and behavior of drug usage of participants attending to primary health care center. Materials and methods: This descriptive study was performed among 300 people who admitted at three family health centers located in Mersin city center. Data were collected by using questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 30 questions about the demographic characteristics and the attitudes of the applicants’ drug use. Descriptive statistics were used for summarizing the data and the chi-square test was used to compare the categorical variables. Results: The mean age of the participants was 36.19±13.27. Of the total participants, 56.3% were female, 37.0% were high school graduated, 9.3% did not have any social insurance. Participants 26% stated that they use medicines without consulting medical doctors, 17.0% of them use medicines with the advice of family/ friends/neighbors and 31.3% of them take the drugs without doctor’s prescription. The usage of drugs without consulting medical doctor was significantly higher among participants graduated of high school or university, students and unmarried person. The usage of drugs with advice of family/friends/neighbors were significantly higher among participants under the age of 19, students and unmarried person. Totally, 37.0% of the participants had drugs at home without using. Analgesics were the most frequently drugs held at home. Conclusion: Most participants of this study had the behavior of irrational drug use. Health care workers, media and teachers had an important role to ensure the rational drug use of individuals in the community.