Prevalence of Self-Medication Among Patients With Common Dermatological Diseases in Saudi Arabia

Introduction  Self-medication is defined as the use of a medication or product to treat, alleviate, or prevent a condition or symptom of an illness or to promote health. Self-management is increasingly used for dermatological diseases, especially chronic inflammatory skin diseases. Hence, it is crucial to be aware of its prevalence and the leading factors of its usage. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the prevalence of self-treatment for dermatological diseases and to determine possible factors associated with its practice.  Methodology  This is a cross-sectional online-based questionnaire study that was conducted in King Fahad Armed Forces Hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. In this study, we included all first-visit and follow-up patients diagnosed with vitiligo, eczema, alopecia areata, and psoriasis. Data analysis was conducted using JMP Statistical Discovery Software, version 15 (JMP Statistical Discovery LLC, Cary, NC).  Results  Of the 203 patients who participated in this study, 91 (44.8%) had vitiligo. Moreover, topical corticosteroids were the most commonly used medications in self-treatment and included mometasone and hydrocortisone, which were used by 143 (41.3%) and 50 (14.5%) patients, respectively. Thirty patients (16.2%) improved with self-treatment, whereas 52 (28.1%) had no improvement. In addition, the most common reason for self-treatment was having mild symptoms of the disease in 97 patients (30.1%).  Conclusion  This study revealed that the prevalence of self-treatment among various dermatological diseases was 53.2%. Topical corticosteroids were the most commonly used conventional medicines, whereas the most common alternative medications used were honey and henna. We found that the most common reason for self-treatment was mildness of the dermatological disease. Family and friends were the most common sources of information.