HEALTH SEEKING BEHAVIOR TOWARDS MINOR AILMENTS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN MALAYSIA

LI-YING TAN; SIEW SIANG CHUA

doi:10.22159/ijpps.2021v13i2.39596

Authors

LI-YING TAN School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
SIEW SIANG CHUA School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Taylor’s University, Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22159/ijpps.2021v13i2.39596

Keywords:

Health behavior, Medication, Minor ailment, Self-medication, Undergraduates

Abstract

Objective: This study was conducted to identify the types of minor ailments encountered by university students in Malaysia and the action taken in response to these ailments.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on undergraduate students from the various faculties in a major private and a public university in Malaysia. A researcher stationed at different areas of the universities to recruit respondents. If the student agreed to participate, he/she would sign a consent form and then self-filled a structured questionnaire.

Results: Of the 856 respondents included in this study, 68.6% were female and 60.6% rated their health status as ‘good’ or ‘very good’. During the one month period prior to the study, 87.4% of the respondents encountered at least one minor ailment. The five most common minor ailments encountered were headache (58.1%), common cold (42.8%), sore throat (42.6%), cough (40.3%) and back pain (27.6%). The main actions taken were rest at home and self-medication. The most common drug used for the treatment of minor ailments was paracetamol (49% of the respondents). Other drugs were used by less than 10% of the respondents. The main source of information was from parents (63.7%), followed by doctors (59.9%), internet (57.9%), pharmacists (33.9%) and friends (33.5%).

Conclusion: Headache is more common among university students compared to the general population. Further studies are required to understand the cause of headache among this population.

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