Authors: Ziadullah Ashour Bay

Abstract

Self-medication (SM) is defined as the use of medication by the consumer to manage symptoms or disease without a prescription from a physician. SM is a widespread global practice, and it may offer temporary relief and reduce the burden on healthcare settings; Nonetheless, it has considerable implications and risks. The practice of SM and its patterns are varied from one population to another and are influenced by several factors. There is no previous review focused on SM in Arab countries; therefore, here, we highlighted and discussed SM regarding its prevalence, most used drugs, determinants, and implications to provide a comprehensive review on the current subject. The literature related to the current subject was obtained through an online search process. The eligible articles were reviewed and discussed under specific titles to cover our current subject. We found that SM was highly prevalent among Arab countries based on the available studies, regardless of the population under investigation, and the most commonly used medication for SM was analgesics. However, the determinants of SM were hard to determine due to the heterogeneity of the investigated determinants. Furthermore, there is a lack of literature in Arab countries regarding the implications and outcomes of SM.

Keywords: SM, prevalence, determinants, implications, Arab countries.