a study of antibiotics self-medication at primary health care centers in shiraz, southern iran

background: nowadays, self-medication of therapeutic agents is of global concern particularly in developing and underdeveloped countries. some studies conducted in iran showed that the frequency of self-medication was significant. objective: this research was conducted to estimate the prevalence of arbitrary use of antibiotics in shiraz community with special interest in its determinant factors. methods: this cross-sectional study was conducted in shiraz, in 2009. approximately 710 out of all patients referred to all health care centers in shiraz were selected to fill out a questionnaire containing 23 questions divided into two parts. the frequency of self-medication according to demographic factors was described and the association between independent variables and selfmedication was analyzed. results: the frequency of self-medication in this study was 44.5% and the request to prescribe antibiotics by the patients was 53.5%. amoxicillin was the most widely used drug by the participants. there was a significant association between age and gender with self-medication. the frequent cause for self-medication was common cold. approximately, 74.4% of the participants reported their previous experience as the main reason for self-medication. conclusion: the results of this survey demonstrated the high frequency of self-medication in shiraz. socio-cultural determinants are the etiologic factors for self-medication. policy makers are recommended to provide community-wide educational programs to make people aware about the adverse effects of self-medication. there was a significant association between age, gender and education with self-medication and governments could pay more attention to these factors for designing the interventional programs.