EVALUATION OF THE KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES OF SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICES AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN INDONESIA

• Main Author: Avici Hutauruk, Cindy
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/72131
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Self-medication behavior continues to increase every year, including in Indonesia. Appropriate self-medication will really help patients manage their disease. But on the other hand, the inappropriate use of self-medication will cause serious problems due to irrational treatment. The condition of the Covid-19 pandemic has encouraged people to use drugs freely. Therefore, this research was conducted to evaluate the level of knowledge and attitudes of college students in practicing self-medication in Indonesia. The research design uses a cross-sectional approach to surveys. Questionnaires were distributed online from December 2022 to January 2023. The questionnaire consisted of respondent demographics, evaluation of student knowledge, evaluation of student attitudes, and experience of using self-medication drugs. The chi-square test was conducted to see differences in knowledge and attitude levels and their correlation with subject demographics. The number of respondents collected was 402, with the majority of the demographics being female (72.6%), aged in the range of 21-25 years (75.6.13%), last education SMA (57%), science and engineering study program (26.6%), domiciled outside West Java Province (69.7%), with an average family income per month of <Rp. 5,000,000 (44.3%), did not have a history of drug allergies (93.8%), and did not have certain diseases (81.1%). The results of the study showed that students had a moderate level of knowledge (84.3%) and a positive attitude (84.3%) in self-medication practice. The most widely used class of drugs in self-medication practices are fever, flu, and cough medicines. Most of the reasons students do self-medication are to save time, cost and the absence of serious symptoms. The type of study program is a significant difference in the knowledge and attitudes of students toward self-medication. Education level and domicile influence differences in knowledge levels but do not affect the level of student attitudes toward self-medication. Gender, age, average monthly family income, history of drug allergies, and certain medical conditions did not affect differences in the level of knowledge and attitudes of students.