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Family Dysfunction and Self-Medication for Acute Febrile Illness

Received: 2 September 2016     Accepted: 29 October 2016     Published: 12 December 2016
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Abstract

Background: Fever is a common complain from patients globally. Self medication for acute febrile illness is also a common practice but often with severe consequences. The family influences the health of the individuals and hence the community in several ways. Family function has major influence on decisons made at home including health seeking behaviour. Objectives: This study set out to determine the relationship between family function and self medication for acute febrile illness in a primary care setting in Jos, in order to proffer solutions to irresponsible and dangerous practices. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study at the GOPD of Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BHUTH), Jos from October 2012 to February 2013. The study population comprised all patients who presented at the study site with fever or history of fever of not more than two weeks duration and who met the inclusion criteria. Data was collected with interviewer-administered structured questionaire and analysed with the Statistical Program for Social Science (SPSS), version 21. Results: The study revealed a high level of self medication (85.0%) in the study population. Most (92.5%) of the participants were from highly functional families. There was a statistically significant relationship between family dysfunction and self medication for acute febrile illness. Conclusion: There is a high level of self medication among the study population. Although highly functional families were in the majority, family dysfunction was significantly related to self medication.

Published in Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care (Volume 2, Issue 4)
DOI 10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24
Page(s) 114-118
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2016. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Family Function, Dysfunctional Family, Family APGAR, Self-medication, Fever

References
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[2] Mehra S, Meek S, Boughton J, Vaderick C, Sintasath D: Malaria Consortium. Childhood Illnesses. Accessed 20/02/2012 from http://www.malariaconsortium.org/pages/childhood_illnesses.htm, 2012.
[3] Oshikoya KA, Njokanma OF, Bello JA, Ayorinde EO; Family self-medication for children in an urban area of Nigeria. Paediatric and Perinatal Drug Therapy, 2007; 8(3):124-30.
[4] Bojang KA, Obaro S, Morison LA, Greenwood BM. Prospective evaluation of a clinical algorithm for the diagnosis of malaria in Gambian children. Trop Med Int Health. 2000; 5(4):231-6.
[5] WHO (2000a). Roll Back Malaria Partnership Secretariat, The Abuja declaration and the Plan of Action in The Africa Summit on Roll Back Malaria. 2000.
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[7] Okeke TA and Okafor HU. Perception and Treatment Seeking Behavior for Malaria in Rural Nigeria: Implications for Control. J Hum Ecol. 2008; 24(3):215-22.
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[9] Chudhuri S. Social development and the family. Available at http://www.eolss.net/sample-chapters/c11/e1-11-02-04.pdf. Retrieved on 30/12/2012
[10] Campbell TL. The effectiveness of family interventions of physical disorders; Journal of Marital and Family Therapy. 2003;29(2):263-81.
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[12] McDaniel HS, Campbell TL, Hepworth J, Lovenz A. Family-oriented primary care; Springer; 2nd edition, 2005; New York. p3.
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[14] Deressa W, Ali A, Enqusellassie F. Self-treatment of malaria in rural communities, Butajira, southern Ethiopia. Bull World Health organ. 2003; 81(4):261-8.
[15] Chukwuocha AN, Chukwuocha UM. The continued relevance of home management of malaria strategy in the effective and sustainable control of malaria in endemic areas; Scientific Research and Essays 2011; 6(33):6748-53.
[16] Stoop D, Masteller J. Forgiving Our Parents, Forgiving Ourselves: Healing Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families. Regal. California. 2011; Pp 7-17.
[17] Araoye MO. Text book on Research Methodology with statistics for Health and Social Sciences. Nathadex, Ilorin, Nigeria. 2003. Pp 118-9.
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  • APA Style

    Alexander Adelabu Azonobo, Musa Dankyau. (2016). Family Dysfunction and Self-Medication for Acute Febrile Illness. Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care, 2(4), 114-118. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24

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    ACS Style

    Alexander Adelabu Azonobo; Musa Dankyau. Family Dysfunction and Self-Medication for Acute Febrile Illness. J. Fam. Med. Health Care 2016, 2(4), 114-118. doi: 10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24

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    AMA Style

    Alexander Adelabu Azonobo, Musa Dankyau. Family Dysfunction and Self-Medication for Acute Febrile Illness. J Fam Med Health Care. 2016;2(4):114-118. doi: 10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24

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  • @article{10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24,
      author = {Alexander Adelabu Azonobo and Musa Dankyau},
      title = {Family Dysfunction and Self-Medication for Acute Febrile Illness},
      journal = {Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care},
      volume = {2},
      number = {4},
      pages = {114-118},
      doi = {10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jfmhc.20160204.24},
      abstract = {Background: Fever is a common complain from patients globally. Self medication for acute febrile illness is also a common practice but often with severe consequences. The family influences the health of the individuals and hence the community in several ways. Family function has major influence on decisons made at home including health seeking behaviour. Objectives: This study set out to determine the relationship between family function and self medication for acute febrile illness in a primary care setting in Jos, in order to proffer solutions to irresponsible and dangerous practices. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study at the GOPD of Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BHUTH), Jos from October 2012 to February 2013. The study population comprised all patients who presented at the study site with fever or history of fever of not more than two weeks duration and who met the inclusion criteria. Data was collected with interviewer-administered structured questionaire and analysed with the Statistical Program for Social Science (SPSS), version 21. Results: The study revealed a high level of self medication (85.0%) in the study population. Most (92.5%) of the participants were from highly functional families. There was a statistically significant relationship between family dysfunction and self medication for acute febrile illness. Conclusion: There is a high level of self medication among the study population. Although highly functional families were in the majority, family dysfunction was significantly related to self medication.},
     year = {2016}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - Family Dysfunction and Self-Medication for Acute Febrile Illness
    AU  - Alexander Adelabu Azonobo
    AU  - Musa Dankyau
    Y1  - 2016/12/12
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    N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24
    DO  - 10.11648/j.jfmhc.20160204.24
    T2  - Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care
    JF  - Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care
    JO  - Journal of Family Medicine and Health Care
    SP  - 114
    EP  - 118
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2469-8342
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    AB  - Background: Fever is a common complain from patients globally. Self medication for acute febrile illness is also a common practice but often with severe consequences. The family influences the health of the individuals and hence the community in several ways. Family function has major influence on decisons made at home including health seeking behaviour. Objectives: This study set out to determine the relationship between family function and self medication for acute febrile illness in a primary care setting in Jos, in order to proffer solutions to irresponsible and dangerous practices. Methods: It was a cross-sectional study at the GOPD of Bingham University Teaching Hospital (BHUTH), Jos from October 2012 to February 2013. The study population comprised all patients who presented at the study site with fever or history of fever of not more than two weeks duration and who met the inclusion criteria. Data was collected with interviewer-administered structured questionaire and analysed with the Statistical Program for Social Science (SPSS), version 21. Results: The study revealed a high level of self medication (85.0%) in the study population. Most (92.5%) of the participants were from highly functional families. There was a statistically significant relationship between family dysfunction and self medication for acute febrile illness. Conclusion: There is a high level of self medication among the study population. Although highly functional families were in the majority, family dysfunction was significantly related to self medication.
    VL  - 2
    IS  - 4
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Family Medicine, Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria

  • Department of Family Medicine, Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, Nigeria

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