Relationship Between Health Status and the Image of Drug and Self-Medication of Female Students of Junior College

Abstract

This study was to examin the relationship between health status and image that 120 women's college students had, and their self-medication in 1986.
Statistical analyses were done using the principle factor solution method with normal varimax rotation for extracting factors of image of drug and X²_Y test for surveying the relationship between health status and image of drug and self-medication.
Main results were summarized as follows;
1. The images of drug that had side-effact and was new promoted better self-medication when one felt ill.
2. A sense of unease about one's health promoted better self-medication on compliance.
3. The following three factors promoted better self-medication on coping with no effect of prescribed medicine (Rx).
(1) being satisfied with one's health.
(2) better H.P.B. doing and
(3) having the images of drug that had side-effect and seemed gloomy.
4. The images of drug that was frequently used and taking drug was unhappy suppressed taking some OTCs in one time.
The images of drug was related to the behavior of self-medication. Especially the two images of drug, the image that drugs have side-effect and the image that taking drugs is undesirable situation, were useful for promorting better self-medication.