Knowledge of Hazards of Self-Medication among Secondary School Students in Ethiopia East Local Government Area of Delta State

Abstract

This study is set out to ascertain the knowledge of hazards of self-medication among Secondary School Students. The descriptive Survey design was adopted for the work. The population of the study is 9,500 students in the public Secondary Schools, in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State. The sample is 300 students randomly selected using non-replacement technique from the 10 selected schools. The instrument used for data collection was questionnaire. Reliability of the instrument was ensured using the test, re-test technique and Cronbach’s alpha to check internal consistency. The method used for the data analysis were descriptive statistic of frequency percentage, means and standard deviation, students T-test and one-way Anova. The major findings of this study was that general knowledge of self-medication was high 75% among Secondary School in Ethiope East Local Government Area as against 25% without general knowledge of self-medication, but their knowledge of hazard of self-medication was at varied levels. The findings revealed that age and religious affiliations had tremendous influence on the knowledge of the hazards of self-medication on the secondary school students, not undermining other prevailing factors, but there was no significant influence of sex (male and female) on the subject matter.

Keywords: Self-medication, Hazard, Health, Self-care, Drugs