Assessment of factors associated with self-medication practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in southwestern Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional survey

Abstract Background Self-medication practices involve the use of medications without healthcare professional requests. The threat of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused the practice of a fittest to survive action, with the assumption that something is better than nothing. Moreover, owing to the lack of effective treatment for COVID-19, the general public has shifted toward self-medication and symptomatic treatment, with approximately 80% of people stockpiling medication for use during the pandemic. Thus, this study aimed to assess the factors associated with self-medication practices during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis in southwestern Ethiopia. Methods A community-based cross-sectional study design was employed at selected drug retail outlets in southwestern Ethiopia for 415 community pharmacy clients from July 1, 2021, to September 1, 2021. Purposive sampling techniques were employed to select five drug retail outlets on the basis of high patient flows, and we took the study participants until the required quota allotted to each selected drug retail outlet had been filled. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses were employed to identify factors associated with self-medication. AORs with 95% CIs were used to report associations, and the level of significance was set at P