DOI: 10.36347/sajp.2023.v12i06.005

Pages: 145-153

The study's objective was to evaluate self-medication habits and side effects among employees at the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria. To direct the study, six objectives, six research questions, and four research hypotheses were developed. The study used a cross-sectional research design. Four (4) departments and respondents were chosen utilising a multi-stage sample technique and simple random technique. 436 workers in all were chosen for the study. A self-created questionnaire served as the data collection tool. The test-retest approach was used to establish the instrument's reliability and the spearman rank order correlation coefficient produced a positive result of 0.8. Utilising frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations, the data was sorted, examined, and summarised. The chi-square, T-test, and ANOVA were used to evaluate the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings indicated that 73% of Federal Medical Centre Owerri employees self-medicated, with problems being the most common (x = 2.87; SD =.765). A greater 94.3% of workers in the 50–59 age group reported using self-medication. Self-medication is more common among female workers than male workers (78.9% versus 69.8%). Workers between the ages of 40 and 49 report more self-medication difficulties (x = 3.02; SD = 1.2). Self-medication issues are worse for female workers than for male workers (x = 2.92; SD =.765). Based on age (x2=11.976, df = 6, p-value =.73) and gender (x2=1.674, df = 1, p-value =.196), there were no appreciable differences in the self-medication practises among employees at the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri, Imo State. The only factor that significantly differed in the problems of self-medication among employees at the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri, Imo State, was age (F(6, 413) = 2.996, p =.000). To keep staff members informed and reeducated about the risks of self-medication, regular workshops and seminars should be organised.