Purpose. Self-medication practice is often associated with irrational medication use. The aim of this study was to assess selfmedication\npractices among community of Harar City and its surroundings, Eastern Ethiopia. Methods. A cross-sectional study\nwas conducted through exit interview in selected drug outlets of Harar City among 370 clients from March to April, 2017.The data\nwas coded and entered into epi-data and processed and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results. Many participants practiced selfmedication\nto alleviate their headache (30.30%), to treat their respiratory disorders (29.50%), and to treat their gastrointestinal\ndisorders (27%). More than half (57.8%) of study participants declared that they were practicing self-medication due to prior\nexperience and seeking less expensive service (20.50%). Two-fifths of them (40.3%) reported pharmacy professionals as source\nof information while 18.9% of respondents were advised by neighbors, friends, or relatives. About one-third (31.9%) of them did\nnot have any source of information for self-medication practice. The most common type of drug used for self-medication by the\nparticipantswas analgesic (42.2%).Approximately one-third (31.1%) of the subjectswere expecting to be counseled by the pharmacy\nprofessionals about the drug side effects and to be helped in selecting their self-medication drug (30.3%). Conclusion. Varieties of\nmedications were used among study participants ranging from antipain to that of antibiotics for different complaints including\nheadache, respiratory complaints, and gastrointestinal problems. Experience with drugs and diseases as well as affordability were\nfrequently reported reasons for self-medication practice. Participants had different views toward the role of pharmacy professionals.\nHence, it is very important to educate patients on responsible use of medications and create awareness on the role of pharmacist in\nself-selectedmedication use in community.
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