The relationship between educational level and choice sefl-medication or professional health care providers of patients in Hochiminh City

Abstract

Self-medication is a common practice in many developing countries. In Vietnam, self-medication has grown in recent years due to the increasing availability of drug vendors and pharmacy shops throughout the country. Beside the convenience, time and cost saving, self-medication is associated with risks such as misdiagnosis, use of irrational drug dosage that lead to the harmful consequences not only for patient himself but also for community as a whole. This study focuses on examining the impact of educational level on self-medication practice in Ho Chi Minh city, the national center of educational and health care of the country. The descriptive statistics and econometric analyzes have been applied to answer the question whether the adult individuals with a higher education are more likely to be self-medicated. The study had been employed the theory of consumer choice as the foundation theory, the Andersen’s behaviour model, and two empirical studies to construct a health-seeking model which describes the way individuals make choices regarding health care utilization to get the highest level of utility. The findings based on the survey conducted by the author in Ho Chi Minh city show that the more educated individual is, the more self-medication they have in treating minor illness. However, the level knowledge of safe medicine use is relatively low among patients.