Abstract
Self medication is a great problem in Tunisia. Children are strongly susceptible to the irrationaluse of drugs without medical evaluation. Focusingon this problem in the paediatric population is rare.
Objective: to determine a 1-day prevalence of selfmedication in children in five private pharmacies inthe district of Tunis and analyze factors related toself medication, especially for antibiotics.
Methods: observational study of a simplerandom sample of parents of children acquiringmedicaments as a self medication in five privatepharmacies chosen arbitrary. Non consent parentswere excluded. Included subjects were interviewedby a medical investigator about demographic dataof their self prescribed children, nature of drugsacquired and reasons of self medication.
Results: among 224 total delivered treatmentsprescription for paediatric population, the prevalenceof self medication was 62,5%. The main groups ofself-prescribed drugs were: analgesic/antipyreticand anti-inflammatory drugs (65%), systemicantibiotics (48%), and drugs acting on the respiratorytract (38%). Amoxicillin (55%) and cephalosporin(26%) were the most self-prescribed antibiotics. Self-prescribed children were aged less than 1 yearin 35% and they suffer, according to parents, from alow respiratory tract infection in 57%, a pharyngitis/tonsillitis in 17% and an isolated fever in 10%. Parents, especially mothers (61%) and drugstoreemployers (20%) were mostly responsible for selfmedication.
Conclusion: Prevalence of self medication in thepaediatric population is high. Antibiotics, especiallyamoxicillin and cephalosporin are largely selfprescribed. Public health interventions aiming toreduce this practice are urgent in our country
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Jemaa, F., Khaldi, A., Bessioud, L. et al. 1304 Self Medication in Children at the District of Tunis (Tunisia): Focus on Antibiotic Self Medication. Pediatr Res 68 (Suppl 1), 645 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-201011001-01304
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-201011001-01304