Prevalence and Predictors of Self-Medication with Antibiotics in Al Wazarat Health Center, Riyadh City, KSA

BACKGROUND Antibiotics are responsible for most dramatic improvement in medical therapy in history. These medications contributed significantly to the decreasing mortality and morbidity when prescribed based on evidence of microbial infection. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and predictors of self-prescription with antibiotics in Al Wazarat Health Center, Riyadh City, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. MATERIAL AND METHODS Cross-sectional study was conducted in Al Wazarat Health Center between February 2014 and November 2014. Respondents were randomly selected using a multistage clustered random sampling technique. Data was entered into SPSS version 21 and analyzed. Descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression models were applied. RESULTS A total of 681 patients have participated in this study with a response rate of 92%. The prevalence of self-prescription with antibiotics in Al Wazarat Health Center was 78.7%. Amoxicillin was the most used self-prescribed antibiotic with prevalence of (22.3%). Friend advice on self-prescription of antibiotics use (p = 0.000) and pharmacy near to the participants (p = 0.002) were the most common predictors for self-prescription with antibiotics. CONCLUSION The level of self-prescribing antibiotics is relatively high among participants. Health education on the appropriate use of antibiotics is highly recommended. The proper use of treatment guidelines for antibiotic therapy will significantly reduce self-prescription with antibiotics.