Background. The use of medications without proper medical consultations poses significant health risks, drug resistance, and undiagnosed disease conditions, becoming a major pharmaceutical challenge in the 21^st century. This study assessed the magnitude and associated factors of self-medication practice among adults in parts of Ethiopia. Methods. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 647 randomly selected adults residing in randomly selected households in eastern Ethiopia via a stratified sampling approach. A pretested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data on self-medication practice. Data were presented using tables, frequencies, percentages, and graphs. A multivariable binary logistic regression was done to identify factors associated with self-medication practice and presented as an adjusted odds ratio along with its 95% CI. Associations with a value below 5% were used to declare statistical significance. Results. A total of 647 adults with a mean age of 41.7 (11.4) years were included. Overall, 15.8% (95% CI: 12.5–18.2) of them reported to have practiced self-medication in the past month, while 67.9% (95% CI: 64.1–74.7) have practiced self-medication, mainly due to the mild nature of the symptom (11%), intention to get a rapid cure (12.2%), physical accessibility (9.1%), and less confidence in the quality of health facility services (3.7%). The majority of the drugs were in the form of oral tablets in the antibiotic, antipain, and gastrointestinal categories. Female ( and 95% CI: 0.76–3.61), larger family size ( and 95% CI: 0.73–2.46), illiteracy ( and 95% CI: 1.17–17.1), poor socioeconomic class ( and CI: 1.71–12.7), perceived health facility visit stay as long ( and 95% CI: 0.80–3.00), khat use ( and 95% CI: 1.27–6.47), cigarette smoking ( 95% CI: 1.27–6.47), and poor knowledge on proper medication use ( and 95% CI: 4.61–13.8) were associated with increased odds of self-medication. Conclusion. The practice of self-medication is a health concern and is associated with lower socioeconomic class, illiteracy, substance abuse, a perceived long stay at a health facility, and poor knowledge of medication use. Behavioral interventions targeting this segment of the population via various approaches would help.

中文翻译：

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埃塞俄比亚东部社区居住成年人自我药疗实践的程度和相关性

背景。^{未经适当医疗咨询而使用药物会带来严重的健康风险、耐药性和未确诊的疾病状况，成为 21世纪}的重大制药挑战。这项研究评估了埃塞俄比亚部分地区成年人自我药疗的程度和相关因素。方法。通过分层抽样方法，对埃塞俄比亚东部随机选择的家庭中随机选择的 647 名成年人进行了一项基于社区的横断面研究。使用预先测试的访谈者管理的问卷来收集自我药疗实践的数据。数据使用表格、频率、百分比和图表来呈现。进行多变量二元逻辑回归以确定与自我药疗实践相关的因素，并以调整后的比值比及其 95% CI 的形式呈现。低于 5% 的值的关联用于声明统计显着性。结果。共有 647 名成年人参与，平均年龄为 41.7 (11.4) 岁。总体而言，15.8% (95% CI: 12.5–18.2) 的人报告在过去一个月内进行过自我药疗，而 67.9% (95% CI: 64.1–74.7) 进行过自我药疗，主要是由于轻度症状症状的性质（11%）、想要快速治愈的意愿（12.2%）、交通便利性（9.1%）以及对医疗机构服务质量的信心不足（3.7%）。大多数药物都是抗生素、止痛药和胃肠道药物的口服片剂。女性 （和 95% CI：0.76–3.61），家庭规模较大（和 95% CI：0.73–2.46），文盲（和 95% CI：1.17–17.1），贫困社会经济阶层（CI：1.71–12.7），感知到的医疗机构就诊时间长（和 95% CI：0.80–3.00），阿拉伯茶使用（和 95% CI：1.27–6.47），吸烟（95% CI: 1.27–6.47），以及对正确用药的了解不足（95% CI：4.61–13.8）与自我药疗几率增加相关。结论。自我药疗是一种健康问题，与较低的社会经济阶层、文盲、药物滥用、在医疗机构的长期停留以及对药物使用的了解不足有关。通过各种方法针对这部分人群的行为干预将会有所帮助。