PREVALENCE OF SELF MEDICATION AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PREGNANT WOMEN IN AMEYA WEREDA, SOUTH WEST SHOA, ETHIOPIA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Self-medication is defined as the use of drugs to treat self-identified illnesses or disorders without the medical prescription; it is also the continued use of drugs without the order of concerning body for recurrent symptoms either by sharing from other person or buying from unlicensed body. Most previous institution-based studies have been conducted at institutions in cities and towns this leads to difficulty of generalizing for rural study subjects. Thus, this study focuses on the assessment of the prevalence and factors associated with the self-medication among pregnant women in the study area. Objectives: To assess prevalence of self-medication and associated factors among pregnant mothers in Ameya Wereda, South West Shoa, Ethiopia, 2021 Methods: Institution based cross sectional study was conducted on 585 pregnant women who came for ANC at Ameya Wereda selected public health institutions from June to July 2021. Data was collected by document review of antenatal care follow up cards and exit interview of pregnant women using interviewer-administered structured questionnaire. Data was entered to Epi-data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Backward multivariable logistic regression model was used and variables with p-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: In this study the prevalence of self-medication among pregnant women in Ameya wereda was 19.8%. Respondents who were primigravida (AOR=2.739, 95% CI 1.229-6.105) and, and respondents with un-able to read and write husband (AOR=3.619, 95% CI 1.019- 12.851) were significantly associated with self-medication practice. Contrary to this those walking one hour or less to the nearest health facility (AOR=0.227, 95% CI 0.085-0.603) were 77.3% less likely to practice self-medication and respondents knowing their gestational age (AOR=0.521, 95% CI 0.290-0.936) were 47.9% less likely to practice self medication. Conclusion and Recommendation: Considerable proportion of pregnant women practiced self-medication. Being primigravida and respondents with un-able to read and write husband were significantly associated with self-medication practice. On other hand, knowing gestational age, and being close to their health facility were protective to practice selfmedication. Health education on risk of drug on pregnancy should be given to all pregnant women (particularly for primigravida) including their husband in line with other routine ANC services.