Information or Habit: What Health Policy Makers Should Know about the Drivers of Self-Medication among Romanians

Elena Druică, Cristian Băicuș, Rodica Ianole-Călin and Ronald Fischer
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Elena Druică: Centre for Applied Behavioral Economics, Department of Economic and Administrative Sciences, University of Bucharest, 030018 Bucharest, Romania
Cristian Băicuș: Department of Internal Medicine, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, 050474 Bucharest, Romania
Rodica Ianole-Călin: Centre for Applied Behavioral Economics, Department of Economic and Administrative Sciences, University of Bucharest, 030018 Bucharest, Romania
Ronald Fischer: School of Psychology, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington 6140, New Zealand

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 2, 1-15

Abstract: We use the Knowledge, Perceptions and Practices framework to analyze determinants of three types of self-medication practices in Romania: (1) self-medication in the case of cold/flu/viral infections; (2) taking non-prescribed medicine in general; and (3) self-medication based on recommendations by others. We analyzed 706 responses to an online survey and used a factor-based Partial Least Squares algorithm (PLSF) to estimate the relationships between each type of self-medication and possible predictors. Our results show that self–medication is strongly predicted by non-cognitive behavioral factors such as habits and similarity of symptoms, while cognitive determinants such as knowledge and understanding of potential risks are not significantly associated with self-medication behaviors. This paper identifies nonlinear relationships among self-medication practices and its predictors and discusses how our results can help policymakers calibrate interventions with better accuracy.

Keywords: self-medication; cognitive determinants of self-medication; non-cognitive determinants of self-medication; knowledge; perception and practices; health policy-making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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