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258482

Assessment of Self-Treatment Knowledge, Beliefs and Practice during COVID-19 Pandemic among Egyptian Population: A Cross Sectional Study

Article

Last updated: 24 Dec 2024

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Abstract

Background: Owing to absence of definitive treatment to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and vaccine hesitancy, the general population sought information from various sources to prevent or treat the disease. Consequently, self-treatment (ST) was boosted in many parts of the world. Aim: The current study aimed to assess ST knowledge, beliefs and practice during the COVID-19 pandemic among Egyptians. Subjects and Method: A cross-sectional, anonymous online survey was conducted using different social media platforms to recruit participants. The survey assessed the sociodemographic characteristics, past COVID-19 infection and vaccination, exposure to ST, and reasons for ST. Results: A total of 400 participants completed the questionnaire; their mean age was 34.9±11.5, females represented 67.8%, married (63.3%), living in urban areas (76.8%) and had chronic diseases (28%). About 67.5% had received vitamins or minerals, antibiotics or herbals or food supplements either due to ST (59.6%) or non-ST (40.4%). Among the ST group, vitamins were used by (81.9%), antibiotics (45.9%), and herbals and supplements (40.9%). Conclusion: ST may delay medical advice seeking leading to worsening of the patient's health. Efforts to raise public awareness about risks of ST should be done by healthcare members especially in the media.        

DOI

10.21608/ejhm.2022.258482

Keywords

Self-treatment, Drug use, COVID-19, Multivitamins, antibiotics, Egypt

Authors

First Name

Sarah Hamed N.

Last Name

Taha

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First Name

Asmaa

Last Name

Moawad

MiddleName

Mohammad

Affiliation

lecturer of forensic medicine and clinical toxicology - kasr alaini- cairo university

Email

asmaamoawad90@cu.edu.eg

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Orcid

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First Name

Ramy Mohamed

Last Name

Ghazy

MiddleName

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First Name

Walaa Abdelhady

Last Name

Abdelhalim

MiddleName

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Orcid

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Volume

89

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

36332

Issue Date

2022-10-01

Receive Date

2022-09-08

Publish Date

2022-10-01

Page Start

4,516

Page End

4,525

Print ISSN

1687-2002

Online ISSN

2090-7125

Link

https://ejhm.journals.ekb.eg/article_258482.html

Detail API

https://ejhm.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=258482

Order

60

Type

Original Article

Type Code

606

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

The Egyptian Journal of Hospital Medicine

Publication Link

https://ejhm.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Assessment of Self-Treatment Knowledge, Beliefs and Practice during COVID-19 Pandemic among Egyptian Population: A Cross Sectional Study

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023