self-medication practice and associated factors among adults in gorgan, north of iran

Background and purpose: self-medication is an important concern in every part of the world. the aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and to investigate the associate factors of self-medication among adults in gorgan, north of iran. materials and methods: this descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among adults aged 12 years and above who were residents in gorgan city. the participants were selected using the multi-stage cluster sampling method. spss software and pearson's chi-squared test were used for data analysis. results: a total of 592 households with 2050 respondents were visited. the prevalence of self-medication was 67.9%. a larger number of females were self-medicating (71.3%) than males (63.5%). the majority of the respondents self-medicated because of the previous use experience (59.3%). the main indication for self-medication use was headache (60.8%). analgesics were the most commonly self-medicated by the respondents (83.9%). also, 88.6% of the respondents prepared their drug from drugstores. furthermore, there were significant differences between self-medication and demographics characteristics including gender, age group, marital status, occupation, education level and income (p<0.05). conclusion: the prevalence of self-medication especially with analgesics is relatively high among adult city-dwellers in gorgan. so, preventive measures, such as strengthening of the communities’ awareness on the side effects of self-medication practice and regulation of pharmacies are very important mechanisms to decrease the practice.