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THE IMPACT OF AGE AND EDUCATION ON SELF-MEDICATION OF COMMON COLD AND COUGH – AN ARMENIAN EXPERIENCE

ANUSH BARSEGHYAN *, LUSINE NAZARYAN, MARTA SIMONYAN

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Every day, consumers are practicing self-medication in the form of self-care of their health with OTC drugs. Parents, friends, family members, neighbours, previous prescribed medicine, or suggestions from an advertisement in Internet or popular magazines are main sources of self-medications. This study examines age and education influence in self-medication of cold and cough among citizens in Armenia. This study was an anonymous, cross sectional, questionnaire-based survey. Participants were randomly selected without repetition. The number of questionnaires was determined by The Survey System Version 11.0 taking into account the number of the population surveyed, the first type error is with 5% probability (α = 0.05), the evaluation accuracy is 3% (Δ = 3%), P = 0.5. The survey was carried out among the pharmacy customers from Armenia during 2019 - 2020. Self-medication during cold and cough prevails in three age groups: 24 - 29, 30 - 35 and above 61. According to the education level self-medication is very common among the population with post-graduate education (68%). The findings reported that much work needs to be done, especially in the 24 - 29, 30 - 35 and above 61 age group, where self-medication was predominant compared to other groups. The best way to improve self-medication during common cold and cough is to develop an effective patient education strategy