Evaluation of rational drug use and affecting factors of individuals over the age of 18 applying to a university hospital

This study was conducted to evaluate the rational drug use of individuals over the age of 18 who applied to a university hospital and the affecting factors. The research is a cross-sectional type of research. The population of the study consists of individuals over the age of 18 who applied to the outpatient clinics of Gazi University Medical Faculty Hospital in Ankara between 1-5 March 2021 for any reason. The research data were evaluated through the SPSS 15.0 statistical package program. Descriptive statistics are presented as arithmetic mean (±), standard deviation, median (minimum, maximum), frequency distribution, and percentage. Pearson Chi-Square test and Fisher's Exact Test were used as statistical methods. Statistical significance level was accepted as p<0.05. In this study, 5.5% of the participants always use drugs without a doctor's prescription, 55.8% use it sometimes, 0.7% always use it on the advice of their neighbors and relatives, 19.0% sometimes use it. 20.4% stated that they did not read the prospectus, 11.5% stated that they did not look at the expiration date before using the drug. Between age, marital status, education level, occupation, monthly total household income, chronic illness, regular drug use, being a relative of health personnel and using drugs without a doctor's prescription; between educational status, occupation, self-assessment status, and drug use on the advice of neighbors and relatives; between age, marital status, educational status, chronic disease status, regular drug use and prospectus reading; A statistically significant difference was found between age, gender, educational status, and looking at the expiration date of the drug. With these data, it is thought that awareness and consciousness about RDU should be increased. It is thought that increasing the health literacy level of individuals and providing accurate and easy-to-understand information sources about drug use will increase the rational drug use of the society.