Information or Habit: What Health Policy Makers Should Know about the Drivers of Self-Medication among Romanians
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Data
2.2. Measurement
2.3. Method
3. Results
3.1. Demographic Variables
3.2. The KPP Predictors
4. Discussion, Conclusions and Limitations
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
References
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Dimension | Items | Latent Construct | Variance Extracted | Cronbach’s Alpha |
---|---|---|---|---|
Self-medication | When you get a flu, you take the medicine that you have at home | Self-medication in case of flu | 60.2% | 0.82 |
When you get a flu, you decide yourself what medicine to buy as a cure | ||||
When you get a flu, you take the same medicine that you took in the past | ||||
Knowledge | You need to understand how a medicine works, even if it is over the counter drug. | Understanding how the drug works | 43% | 0.52 |
The reading & understanding of leaflets in the drug pack is important before taking medicine | ||||
Even over the counter drugs can have adverse effects, including death | Understandings risks and adverse effects | 0.74 | ||
Our body can develop resistance against over the counter drugs | ||||
Continuous use of non-prescription drugs may cause dependency | ||||
Non-prescription drugs, most of the time, end up complicating the sickness. | ||||
Perception | It is important to take a medicine at home as soon as I become sick | Habits | 54.5% | 0.8 |
Taking a medicine at home is a good practice for preventing development of disease. | ||||
I always take a medicine as soon as I fall a sick without delay. | ||||
I can treat myself at home by buying medicine from the shop | Self-confidence in administrating drugs at home | 0.76 | ||
When I fall sick, there is nothing wrong with using left over medicines to treat myself. | ||||
Taking medication at home is an important step for keeping healthy | ||||
Practice | I use self medication whenever I can diagnose/treat symptoms | Practice based on similarity | 46.4% | 0.71 |
When the condition is similar to a previous sickness, I can use nonprescription drugs | ||||
I am always willing to use nonprescription drugs when someone whom I trust recommends them. |
Model | Self-Medication in Case of Flu | Usually, You Take Drugs That Are Not Recommended by a Doctor | You Buy Medicine on Advice of Relatives, Neighbors, Friends or Others |
---|---|---|---|
Age | −0.041 (0.112) | −0.181 *** (p < 0.001) | −0.071 * (0.018) |
Gender Female: Reference Male | 0.005 (0.445) | 0.091 ** (0.004) | −0.063 * (0.031) |
Education Middle: Reference Higher | 0.094 ** (0.003) | 0.070 * (0.020) | 0.067 * (0.023) |
Medical education No: Reference Yes | 0.050 † (0.072) | −0.064 * (0.030) | 0.003 (0.464) |
Understanding how the drug works | 0.062 * (0.033) | −0.025 (0.230) | −0.041 (0.115) |
Understandings risks and adverse effects | 0.004 (0.452) | −0.008 (0.404) | 0.043 (0.101) |
Habits | 0.250 *** (p < 0.001) | 0.087 ** (0.005) | 0.053 (0.058) |
Practice based on similarity | 0.524 *** (p < 0.001) | 0.282 *** (p < 0.001) | 0.390 *** (p < 0.001) |
Reliability of other sources | 0.008 (0.409) | 0.196 *** (p < 0.001) | 0.003 (0.470) |
Model | Self-Medication in Case of Flu | Usually, You Take Drugs That Are Not Recommended by a Doctor | You Buy Medicine on Advice by Relatives, Neighbors, Friends or Others |
---|---|---|---|
Standardized mean absolute residual (SMAR) (recommended value < 0.1) | 0.078 | 0.074 | 0.072 |
Standardized mean squared residual (SRMR) (recommended value < 0.1) | 0.061 | 0.056 | 0.055 |
Standardized chi–squared (SChS) | 0.160 (p < 0.001) | 1.794 (p < 0.001) | 0.767 (p < 0.001) |
Standardized threshold difference count ratio (STDCR) (recommended value > 0.7; ideally ≤ 1) | 0.995 | 0.994 | 0.994 |
Standardized threshold difference sum ratio (STDSR) (recommended value > 0.7; ideally ≤ 1) | 0.982 | 0.976 | 0.975 |
R2/Adjusted R2 | 53%/52.5% | 32%/30.8% | 20.1%/19.3% |
Tenehaus GoF (small ≥ 0.1, medium ≥ 0.25, large ≥ 0.36) | 0.623 | 0.492 | 0.377 |
Model | Self-Medication in Case of Flu | Usually, You Take Drugs That Are Not Recommended by a Doctor | You Buy Medicine on Advice of Relatives, Neighbors, Friends or Others |
---|---|---|---|
Understanding how the drug works | 0.006 | 0.002 | 0.003 |
Understandings risks and adverse effects | 0.000 | 0.001 | 0.003 |
Habits | 0.150 | 0.034 | 0.015 |
Practice based on similarity | 0.361 | 0.140 | 0.163 |
Reliability of other sources | 0.003 | 0.092 | 0.001 |
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Druică, E.; Băicuș, C.; Ianole-Călin, R.; Fischer, R. Information or Habit: What Health Policy Makers Should Know about the Drivers of Self-Medication among Romanians. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 689. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020689
Druică E, Băicuș C, Ianole-Călin R, Fischer R. Information or Habit: What Health Policy Makers Should Know about the Drivers of Self-Medication among Romanians. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(2):689. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020689
Chicago/Turabian StyleDruică, Elena, Cristian Băicuș, Rodica Ianole-Călin, and Ronald Fischer. 2021. "Information or Habit: What Health Policy Makers Should Know about the Drivers of Self-Medication among Romanians" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 2: 689. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18020689