Self-Medication Prevalence and Practices among Kenyatta University Main Campus Students

This study investigated the prevalence of self-medication practices and associated factors among students at Kenyatta University. A cross-sectional survey design was employed, with a structured questionnaire serving as the primary data collection instrument. Data were gathered as of 26 February 2016 at the university’s main campus through a six-month illness recall. A sample of 385(48.8% male; 50.6% female) established using Fischer’s formula, was drawn from the institution’s 35,000 main campus students and recruited as respondents. Simple random sampling, primary data was collected, coded and analyzed using SPSS version 22. The findings indicated that self-medication is high (73.7%), with 84.2% self-medicating manufactured pharmaceuticals while 8.3%used herbal medicine. Respiratory conditions, like cough, cold, sore throat, accounted for more than half (62%) of the symptoms prompting self-medication. The self-medicated drugs were predominantly obtained from pharmacies (78.7%). Among the pharmaceutical drugs, analgesics was the most popular self-medicated class (50.3%). Pharmacists were the primary source of medication information (29.7%). Paracetamol was the predominant analgesic (58.7%). To address the elevated prevalence, the study recommends strengthened regulatory enforcement, targeted student education on the risks of self-medication, and improved access to affordable healthcare services.