SELF MEDICATION PRACTICES AND EXPERIENCE OF NURSING STUDENTS IN JOSEPH AYO BABALOLA UNIVERSITY, IKEJI ARAKEJI, OSUN STATE

ABSTRACTS Self-medication is the treatment of common health problems with medicines without medical supervision. There is substantive literature on self-medication, however there has been limited focus on undergraduates. Hence, assess Self-medication practices and experience of Nursing students in Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji Arakeji, Osun State. A cross-sectional study design and simple random sampling technique, 271 consenting respondents were recruited into this study. Quantitative data was collected using a semistructured, self-administered questionnaire; analyzed using SPSS version 21 and summarized using proportions and Chi-square tests (p ≤5%). The results of the findings revealed that there is a high incidence of self-medication among the respondents. Furthermore, analgesics were found to be the most commonly self-medicated drug compared to other over-the-counter drugs stated in the questionnaire. The study also showed that there is an overall more than average knowledge rating among the respondents as majority of them are aware of the grave consequences of self-medication while also identifying factors such as urgency of problem, lack of time to present at proper health facility, similarity of symptoms with previous illnesses and inability to afford health care as causes of self-medication. The university authorities need to develop intervention strategies to engender behavioral change which can potentially improve their practices towards self-medication. Keywords: Awareness, Knowledge, Practice, Self-medication, Undergraduates.