SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICES AND RELATED FACTORS AMONG RURAL COMMUNITY RESIDENTS WITH PERCEIVED ACUTE RESPIRATORY ILLNESS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

Introduction: The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the increasing global prevalence of self-medication. There are limited studies on the self-medication practices of those who are perceived to have an acute respiratory illness during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Objectives: The study aimed to determine the self-medication practices of rural community residents who perceived themselves to have an acute respiratory illness during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: The study employed an analytic cross-sectional study design. Probability sampling, specifically stratified random sampling, was used in the study. The study collected data from 407 adult residents of a rural municipality in the Philippines who perceived themselves to have an acute respiratory illness.
Results: The respondents preferred gathering health information from doctors but did not actually seek information about their health. They have a lot of trust in healthcare professionals. Overall, they have good access to health services. However, they have poor access to telemedicine services. Meanwhile, they generally experienced mild respiratory symptoms. Self-medication was highly prevalent among the respondents. It was significantly associated with the perceived severity of symptoms, actual source of health information, and access to health services.
Conclusions: Majority of the residents in the community self-medicated.