Abstract

Self-medication among health workers sits between professional competence and unsafe practice, and in Nigeria economic pressure widens that space. This study examined the influence of socio-economic factors on self-medication practices among health workers in selected health facilities in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Five factors were examined: monthly income, health insurance coverage, education level, years of work experience and drug cost. A cross-sectional survey design was adopted. From a population of 8,224 health workers, a sample of 367 was determined with the Krejcie and Morgan formula and selected by multistage sampling. Data were collected with the Self-Medication Practices Questionnaire among Health Workers (Cronbach's α = 0.78); 342 questionnaires were returned and usable (93.2%). Data were analysed with SPSS version 25.0 using frequencies, Chi-square and multivariable binary logistic regression at the 0.05 level. Self-medication in the preceding six months was reported by 75.7% of respondents, and over half of these had used antibiotics. Monthly income (Wald = 9.214, p = 0.027), health insurance coverage (Wald = 11.095, p = 0.001), education level (Wald = 21.709, p < 0.001) and drug cost (Wald = 11.175, p = 0.004) significantly influenced self-medication, whereas years of experience did not (Wald = 6.566, p = 0.087). Uninsured workers had 2.72 times the odds of insured workers, and those rating drug cost as high had 3.25 times the odds of those rating it low. Self-medication among health workers in Akwa Ibom State was shaped as much by money and access as by clinical knowledge.