Assessment of Medication Use among University Students in Ethiopia

Background. The extent, nature, and determinants of medication use of individuals can be known from drug utilization studies. Objectives. This study intended to determine medication consumption, sharing, storage, and disposal practices of university students in Northwest Ethiopia. Methods. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 404 university students selected through stratified random sampling technique. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire and analyzed with SPSS version 20 statistical software. Pearson's Chi-square test of independence was conducted with P < 0.05 taken as statistically significant. Results. At 95.3% response rate, the prevalences of medication consumption and sharing were 35.3% (N = 136) and 38.2% (N = 147), respectively. One hundred (26%) respondents admitted that they often keep leftover medications for future use while the rest (N = 285, 74%) discard them primarily into toilets (N = 126, 44.2%). Evidence of association existed between medication taking and year of study (P = 0.048), medication sharing and sex (P = 0.003), and medication sharing and year of study (P = 0.015). Conclusion. There is a high prevalence of medication consumption, medication sharing, and inappropriate disposal practices which are influenced by sex and educational status of the university students. Thus medication use related educational interventions need to be given to students in general.