Background and Objective: One of the most important concerns in children is self- medication that may cause in delay the correct diagnosis, and increases morbidity and mortality. This study was performed to determine the frequency of self-medication of parents in children in need of medical care in Gorgan city.
Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 270 children referred to the pediatric clinic of Taleghani Hospital in Gorgan, northern Iran during 2018-19. Medications were given to the children by their parents arbitrarily without prescriptions by doctors during the recent week were evaluated.
Results: 58.5% and 41.5% of children were males and females, respectively. The average age of children was 5.79 ±4.15 years. Self-medication was the first choice of 60.4% of parents. In the recent week, 48.9% of parents had self-medicated to treat their child's current illness, of which 31.8% reported antipyretic, 17.4% herbal medicines, 11.4% antibiotics and 23.5% other medicines. 91% of parents were unaware of correct dose of drugs and 96.3% did not have any knowledge about possible side effects of drugs, contraindications and precautions. There was a statistically significant association between parent job (self-employment) and self-medication (P<0.05).
Conclusion: 48.9% of parents were performed self-medication on their children. Out of those parents 91% and 96.3% were not aware from the correct drugs dosage and of possible side effects, contraindications and potential risks respectively.
