INVESTIGATION ON SELF-MEDICATION - FROM D ISEASE TO PERFORMANCE

Self-medication is widely practised and could be defined as taking dru gs without the advice of a physician. The present survey documented se lf-medication users' profile and their drug-taking behaviour. Experime ntal design: prospective study by self-report questionnaire. Participa nts: 600 residents of the Meurthe et Moselle subdivision (eastern Fran ce), ranging in age from 15 to 85 years, including 288 males and 312 f emales. Measures: use and impressions of self-medication, based on the subjects' own experience. Data analysis: questionnaires were coded an d put on computer. The data were analysed and compared by chi-square a nd 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 (4 6.9 per cent), nose, throat or respiratory tract diseases (22.1 per ce nt) and abdominal pain (7.3 per cent). Self-use of drugs usually invol ved 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 i n a marital relationship and resident in an urban zone. The behaviours leading to self-medication were studied. Five groups are described, p robably associated with five different attitudes towards self-medicati on. One of them shows subjects who essentially use drugs not to treat a disease but to enhance their performance.