UNLABELLED: Self-medication is widely practised and could be defined as taking drugs without the advice of a physician. The present survey documented self-medication users' profile and their drug-taking behaviour. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: prospective study by self-report questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: 600 residents of the Meurthe et Moselle subdivision (eastern France), ranging in age from 15 to 85 years, including 288 males and 312 females. MEASURES: use and impressions of self-medication, based on the subjects' own experience. DATA ANALYSIS: questionnaires were coded and put on computer. The data were analysed and compared by chi-square and analysis of variance. Statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05. RESULTS: 313 subjects (52.2 per cent) reported having used self-medication. The three main motives for this practice were: headache (46.9 per cent), nose, throat or respiratory tract diseases (22.1 per cent) and abdominal pain (7.3 per cent). Self-use of drugs usually involved left-over past prescribed treatment (76 per cent), or were bought without the advice of a pharmacist (28 per cent). The self-medication user tends to be a woman, ranging in age from 20 to 39 years, living in a marital relationship and resident in an urban zone. The behaviours leading to self-medication were studied. Five groups are described, probably associated with five different attitudes towards self-medication. One of them shows subjects who essentially use drugs not to treat a disease but to enhance their performance.
UNLABELLED: Self-medication is widely practised and could be defined as taking drugs without the advice of a physician. The present survey documented self-medication users' profile and their drug-taking behaviour. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: prospective study by self-report questionnaire. PARTICIPANTS: 600 residents of the Meurthe et Moselle subdivision (eastern France), ranging in age from 15 to 85 years, including 288 males and 312 females. MEASURES: use and impressions of self-medication, based on the subjects' own experience. DATA ANALYSIS: questionnaires were coded and put on computer. The data were analysed and compared by chi-square and analysis of variance. Statistical significance was accepted at p < 0.05. RESULTS: 313 subjects (52.2 per cent) reported having used self-medication. The three main motives for this practice were: headache (46.9 per cent), nose, throat or respiratory tract diseases (22.1 per cent) and abdominal pain (7.3 per cent). Self-use of drugs usually involved left-over past prescribed treatment (76 per cent), or were bought without the advice of a pharmacist (28 per cent). The self-medication user tends to be a woman, ranging in age from 20 to 39 years, living in a marital relationship and resident in an urban zone. The behaviours leading to self-medication were studied. Five groups are described, probably associated with five different attitudes towards self-medication. One of them shows subjects who essentially use drugs not to treat a disease but to enhance their performance.