Abstract:
This was a cross sectional study whose aim was to assess the magnitude of self
medication and associated factors at Kinondoni district, Dar-es- Salaam region.
The study involved a total of 402 respondents, of whom 56% were females and the
rest were males.
Only 45.3% of people who fell sick go to health facility for care.
Self medication was practiced by about 50.2% of the respondents and medicines
used were mainly obtained from medical stores and pharmacies.
Respondents' ability to recall the name of medicine used for treatment was found to
be fairly good. Very few respondents were told how to store the medicines
dispensed to them.
Nearly half(47.8%) of household involved in the study stored medicines at home.
The major reason for storing drugs at home was the need to use them for self
medication incase of emergency. The medicines stored include prescription and non
prescription drugs.
Lack of money to pay for these services together with the availability of many
pharmacies and medical store in many places are the contributing factors in the
magnitude of selfmedication.
Given the magnitude of this problem there is a need for pharmacists and the general
public to b~ educated on the proper use and storage of drugs in order to minimize
potential consequences of practices which were revealed by this study
