ArticleFrontiers in pharmacology2026
Attitudes and behaviors concerning self-medication practices among adult urban population in Croatia: a cross-sectional study.
Article in Frontiers in pharmacology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background and Aim: Drug utilization worldwide is often associated with practicing self-medication of prescription or non-prescription drugs. Irresponsible behaviors in this field can lead to a variety of health risks. Assessing the extent of self-medication in population contributes to guiding decisions on future interventions to improve it. This study aimed to investigate self-medication patterns and attitudes of adult urban inhabitants in Croatian cities Zagreb and Rijeka. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted from April to May 2025 in urban community pharmacies involving 402 adult customers who filled out the questionnaire on their self-medication behaviors and attitudes, adverse events related to self-medication, and practices of storing medications at home. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The Chi-square test was used to estimate association between sociodemographic features and self-medication practices. Results: Most commonly self-medicated drugs were analgesics-antipyretics by 94.2% participants. Antimicrobials were self-medicated in 29.4% of cases, and anxiolytics in 24.0%. Higher educational levels were associated with stronger inclination to self-medicate in general (p = 0.034). Most commonly, respondents acquired over-the counter drugs for self-medication in pharmacies (75.3%). Women bought over-the-counter drugs and reported adverse drug reactions more frequently (p = 0.033 and p = 0.037, respectively). 77.5% of participants kept drugs in a designated area (home pharmacy), and 24% of participants could not estimate if drugs they kept at home were potentially toxic. Conclusion: The prevalence of reported self-medication was rather high, even with prescription drugs such as antibiotics and anxiolytics. Educational activities and practical interventions should be implemented to increase the awareness of potential risks of inappropriate self-medication and to strengthen responsible behavior in this aspect with family physicians and community pharmacists having the key role in the process.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.