Practice and Perception of Self Medication in Children by Caregivers in Sibu Hospital

Introduction: The World Health Organization has defined self-medication as “the use of medicinal products by the consumer to treat selfrecognized disorders or symptoms, or the intermittent or continued use of a medication prescribed by a physician for chronic or recurring diseases or symptoms”. Self medication in children by caregivers is a common practice globally.1-4 However, medical complications secondary to self medications is a cause of concern. The study aimed to explore the practice and perception of self medication amongchildren by their caregivers in Sibu Hospital. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey was conducted between July 2020 and January 2021 in Paediatric Wards in Sibu Hospital using an interviewer-assisted structured questionnaire. All Caregivers for children admitted to the Paediatric Wards who fulfilled the inclusion criteria was recruited. Results: A total of 230 respondents were included in the study. 161 (70.0%) caregivers practiced self-medication among children. Fever was the most common ailment for which caregivers practiced self-medication for children (92.5%). Majority of the caregivers obtained non-prescription medicine from the pharmacy (98.1%). It seems that caregivers with more children tend to self medicate their children (P =0.044). Most of the caregivers agreed that it is important to give medicine to a child at home when he/she falls sick (93.2%) and they could treat child at home by buying medicine from pharmacy (67.7%). However, most of the caregivers disagreed to use leftover medicine at home to treat their child (54.7%). Discussion/ Conclusion: Figure 1 illustrated the high prevalence (70%) of caregivers practiced self medication for their children. Different countries/ communities recorded different prevalence of self medication in children, which could be caused by difference in sociodemographic backgrounds, healthcare service, ease of access to over the counter medications, parental knowledge and perception about self medication for children.1-4. Table 1 showed caregivers with more children tend to self medicate their children (p value = 0.044)  as caregivers with more children (more than 1) were more experienced in taking care of the children including management of their children’s ailments and medicine. 1,5,6. Most of the caregivers agreed to self medicate their children when their children are sick (Table 2). However, some respondents mentioned that it only applicable with some minor illnesses such as fever or flu. This was in accordance with the  finding of other studies. 1,7 Limitation: The results of our study may be limited by inadequate sample size and unequal distribution of participants based on their demographics. This study highlighted the high prevalence of self-medication in children by caregiver in Sibu Hospital. Hence, pharmacists play an important role in providing information and advice to caregivers in the self-medication practice, including conditions that could be treated by self-medication. [Disclaimer: Abstract text might vary slightly from what is displayed in the e-poster]