Prevalence of antimicrobial self-medication among patients attending two hospitals in the Buea Health District, Cameroon

Background: Self-medication is an important public health problem in developed and developing countries, with antimicrobial resistance increasing over time as a result of antimicrobial abuse. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of antimicrobial self-medication as well as associated factors among outpatient consultations of two hospitals within the Buea Health District, Cameroon. Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey that was conducted in two hospitals in the Buea Health district from June to October 2018. 329 patients for outpatient consultations were selected by simple random sampling and interviewed. The data was analyzed using SPSS software version 21. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages was used to present data. Chi square test was applied to compare various variables of those who practiced self-medication and those who did not practice in order to find the statistical significance. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to determine factors associated with self-medication.