Perspectives on self-medication practices in Thailand

Abstract

Objective: To describe self-medication practices of Thais who purchased drugs from different types of retail drug outlets in terms of buying, information seeking and decision making behavior. Methods and setting: Data collection were done by observation and interviewing. The sample size was 1,980 customers from various types of drug outlets throughout Thailand. Key findings: The results show that self-medication was done by common household drugs 14.5 percent, OTC (over the counter) drugs 58.23 percent, prescription and controlled drugs 16.92 percent, and traditional drugs 10.35 percent. Three major buying methods were identified by observation: stating the medication's name 87.5 percent, consulting drug sellers 6.9 percent and bringing samples 5.6 percent. The major source of drug names was television, 22.6 percent. Health personnel were the most popular information source for all customers. Drug labels were the least preferable source of information. Conclusion: Customers in Bangkok never searched information from labels. By observation, 57.4 percent of customers read drug labels before buying. Effectiveness, ease of use and price were the three product properties customers were most concerned with.