Prevalence and predictors of self-medication among university students in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Self-medication of medicines is a global issue particularly among those with good access and familiarity with medications such as university students. It has a signifcant impact on drug resistance and medication-related complications. There are limited and inconsistent studies on self-medication practices in Ethiopia. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication and its predictors among university students in Ethiopia. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the prevalence and predictors of selfmedication among university students in Ethiopia. Published articles from various electronic databases such as Medline, Hinari, Pub Med, Cochrane library, and the Web of Science were accessed. In addition, a manual search was performed including Google Scholar. Searching of articles were searched from January 1st to February 1, 2021. All observational studies conducted among university students in English language were included in the review. Two reviewers independently assessed articles before inclusion in the fnal review using the Joanna Briggs Institute MetaAnalysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) instrument for critical appraisal. The I 2 test was used to assess heterogeneity. Since the included studies exhibited high heterogeneity, a random-efects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication. Results: We found of 812 published and unpublished studies in our search. Finally, 31 full-text studies were reviewed, and 13 studies fulflled the inclusion criteria and were included in the fnal meta-analysis. A total of 5377 study respondents from 13 studies were included in the study. The results of our study revealed that the pooled prevalence of self-medication among university students was 49.41% (95% CI 38.67%, 60.13%). The included studies had a sample size ranging from 250 to 792 with the lowest prevalence (19.87%) of self-medication from the University of Gondar, whereas the highest prevalence (77.01%) was recorded in a study conducted at Arsi University. From the pooled estimation, there was a signifcant association between self-medication and income (OR=0.67: 95% CI 0.55–0.80). However, the association between self-medication and year of study and sex of participants was insignifcant. Conclusion: The pooled prevalence of self-medication among Ethiopian university students was relatively high compared to the current global health problem with an increase in anti-microbial resistance. 

Background: Self-medication of medicines is a global issue particularly among those with good access and familiarity with medications such as university students. It has a signifcant impact on drug resistance and medication-related complications. There are limited and inconsistent studies on self-medication practices in Ethiopia. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication and its predictors among university students in Ethiopia. Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to assess the prevalence and predictors of selfmedication among university students in Ethiopia. Published articles from various electronic databases such as Medline, Hinari, Pub Med, Cochrane library, and the Web of Science were accessed. In addition, a manual search was performed including Google Scholar. Searching of articles were searched from January 1st to February 1, 2021. All observational studies conducted among university students in English language were included in the review. Two reviewers independently assessed articles before inclusion in the fnal review using the Joanna Briggs Institute MetaAnalysis of Statistics Assessment and Review Instrument (JBI-MAStARI) instrument for critical appraisal. The I 2 test was used to assess heterogeneity. Since the included studies exhibited high heterogeneity, a random-efects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of self-medication. Results: We found of 812 published and unpublished studies in our search. Finally, 31 full-text studies were reviewed, and 13 studies fulflled the inclusion criteria and were included in the fnal meta-analysis. A total of 5377 study respondents from 13 studies were included in the study. The results of our study revealed that the pooled prevalence of self-medication among university students was 49.41% (95% CI 38.67%, 60.13%). The included studies had a sample size ranging from 250 to 792 with the lowest prevalence (19.87%) of self-medication from the University of Gondar, whereas the highest prevalence (77.01%) was recorded in a study conducted at Arsi University. From the pooled estimation, there was a signifcant association between self-medication and income (OR=0.67: 95% CI 0.55–0.80). However, the association between self-medication and year of study and sex of participants was insignifcant. Conclusion: The pooled prevalence of self-medication among Ethiopian university students was relatively high compared to the current global health problem with an increase in anti-microbial resistance.