{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,28]],"date-time":"2026-10-28T14:58:50Z","timestamp":1793199530409,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":20,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,21]],"date-time":"2023-12-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1703116800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Forgarty International NIH","award":["IR25TW011213"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["IR25TW011213"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Self-medication with antibiotics remains one of the major drivers of antimicrobial resistance. Practices of self-medication among nursing and medical students have not been explored in our setting. This study sought to determine the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication with antibiotics among undergraduate university students pursuing health-related courses in Eastern Uganda. A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used. The study was done among undergraduate students who were doing undergraduate programs in Nursing, Anesthesia, and medicine at Busitema University. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from 326 participants. Descriptive statistics were used in data analysis. The prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics was 93.8% (n = 300) of which 80% were either currently using self-medication or had self-medicated in the past six months. The common reasons for self-medication were the perception that it was a minor illness (55%), previous use of antibiotic (52%), a perception that they were health workers (50%), and the notion that they knew the right antibiotic for their condition (44%). Metronidazole (64%) and amoxicillin (65%) were the most commonly used antibiotics. Self-medication was most common for conditions such as peptic ulcer, diarrhea, and wound infections. Inappropriate drug use was common among participants on self-medication which occurred in the form of multiple use of antibiotics (64.4%, n = 194) and a tendency to switch to other antibiotics (58.5%) mostly because the former antibiotic was perceived not to be an effective treatment. The prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics was high among medical students. Prior use of the antibiotic and having a minor illness were the most common drivers of self-medication. Public health strategies should address the high misuse of antibiotics among medical students to negate the likely consequence of antimicrobial resistance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0293685","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,21]],"date-time":"2023-12-21T13:49:02Z","timestamp":1703166542000},"page":"e0293685","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":23,"title":["Practices and drivers of self-medication with antibiotics among undergraduate medical students in Eastern Uganda: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Gloria","family":"Nakato","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Pamella R.","family":"Adongo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jacob Stanley","family":"Iramiot","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7148-5928","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Joshua","family":"Epuitai","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0293685.ref001","volume-title":"Global strategy for containment of antimicrobial resistance","author":"World Health Organization (WHO)","year":"2021"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref002","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"692","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(11)70054-8","article-title":"Non-prescription antimicrobial use worldwide: a systematic review","volume":"11","author":"DJ Morgan","year":"2011","journal-title":"The Lancet infectious diseases"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1179","DOI":"10.1016\/S1473-3099(14)70987-9","article-title":"Antibiotic use worldwide","volume":"14","author":"LD H\u00f6gberg","year":"2014","journal-title":"The Lancet infectious diseases"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref004","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e84177","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0084177","article-title":"Public knowledge, attitudes, and experience regarding the use of antibiotics","volume":"8","author":"F Napolitano","year":"2013","journal-title":"Italy. 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A pilot study","volume":"20","author":"M Shehadeh","year":"2012","journal-title":"Saudi Pharmaceutical Journal"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref010","article-title":"Self-medication with antibiotics in WHO Southeast Asian Region: a systematic review","volume":"10","author":"G Nepal","year":"2018","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref011","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3903","DOI":"10.2147\/IDR.S234610","article-title":"Antimicrobial resistance: implications and costs.","author":"P Dadgostar","year":"2019","journal-title":"Infection and drug resistance"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref012","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"629","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(21)02724-0","article-title":"Global burden of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in 2019: a systematic analysis","volume":"399","author":"CJ Murray","year":"2022","journal-title":"The Lancet"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref013","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"92","DOI":"10.1016\/j.puhe.2018.11.018","article-title":"Evidence of factors influencing self-medication with antibiotics in low and middle-income countries: a systematic scoping review","author":"N Torres","year":"2019","journal-title":"Public health 168"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref014","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"862","DOI":"10.1111\/tmi.13600","article-title":"Comparative assessment of the prevalence, practices and factors associated with self\u2010medication with antibiotics in Africa","volume":"26","author":"EV Yeika","year":"2021","journal-title":"Tropical Medicine & International Health"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref015","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"733","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics11060733","article-title":"Self-medication with antibiotics during COVID-19 in the Eastern Mediterranean region countries: a review","volume":"11","author":"F Jirjees","year":"2022","journal-title":"Antibiotics"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref016","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"232","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics10030232","article-title":"Self-medication with antibiotics for protection against COVID-19: the role of psychological distress, knowledge of, and experiences with antibiotics","volume":"10","author":"A Zhang","year":"2021","journal-title":"Antibiotics"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref017","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s13011-020-00261-x","article-title":"Compliance of private pharmacies in Uganda with controlled prescription drugs regulations: a mixed-methods study","volume":"15","author":"PF Kamba","year":"2020","journal-title":"Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref018","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"597","DOI":"10.3390\/antibiotics9090597","article-title":"Evidence of the practice of self-medication with antibiotics among the lay public in low-and middle-income countries: a scoping review","volume":"9","author":"A Aslam","year":"2020","journal-title":"Antibiotics"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref019","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1186\/s12889-019-7020-x","article-title":"Prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics and associated factors in the community of Asmara, Eritrea: a descriptive cross sectional survey","volume":"19","author":"Y Ateshim","year":"2019","journal-title":"BMC public health"},{"key":"pone.0293685.ref020","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2155","DOI":"10.2147\/IDR.S303075","article-title":"Antibiotic practices, perceptions and self-medication among patients at a National Referral Hospital in Uganda","author":"I Nabaweesi","year":"2021","journal-title":"Infection and drug resistance"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0293685","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,21]],"date-time":"2023-12-21T13:49:28Z","timestamp":1703166568000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0293685"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Joseph Olusesan","family":"Fadare","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,21]]},"references-count":20,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,21]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0293685","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,21]]}}}