Determinants of Self-Medication Prevention in Women based on the Health Belief Model in Urmia City, Iran

Background and Aim: Self-medication, as one of the most important social-health issue, is a common
phenomenon with high risks, especially among women in sensitive periods such as pregnancy and lactation.
This study aimed to investigate the determinants of self-medication prevention based on the Health Belief
Model (HBM) in Urmia City, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 200 women under the coverage of Urmia
health centers were randomly selected. Simple random sampling was applied and 10 centers were selected of
35 health centers. Data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire including questions about
demographic information, awareness, self- medication prevention behaviors, and HBM constructs. Data were
analyzed using chi-square and linear regression by SPSS20. Findings of this study showed that 56% of all
participants had self-medication. Self-medication prevention behavior had a significant correlation with the
women's education level, health insurance, and economic status (P <0.05). Among constructs of the HBM,
perceived self-efficacy (B = 0.39), awareness (B = 0.30), perceived susceptibility (B = 0.25), and perceived
severity (B = 0.22) played the greatest role in predicting the women's self-medication behavior, respectively.
Based on the results, women's performance in self-medication prevention behaviors can be improved by
providing them with necessary training on the perceived self-efficacy and awareness.