Self-medication with antimalarials drugs in Lubumbashi city (DR Congo)

Self-medication for malaria is very common in Sub-Saharan Africa where this parasitosis is endemic. In order to determine the extent, characteristics and factors associated with this practice in medical area in the city of Lubumbashi, a cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out by direct interview from January 2018 to June 2018, in the internal medicine departments of 10 General Referral Hospital (GRH) . Five thousand one hundred and thirty-four patients were consulted among them, 96.6% (average age 38.7 ± 8 years; average income: 100 ± 12 USD; gender male/ female ratio: 0.86) practice self-medication with antimalarials. They used it for the first time at an average age of 13-17 years. Quinine (36.4%) and Carica papaya (0.4%) are the most used remedies in conventional and non-conventional medicine, respectively. Several risks are incurred during this practice when the most cited are worsening side effects (53%), incomplete treatment (37%) and appearance to health sciences (37%). Age (17-35 and > 65 years old), low income (50-150 USD), membership in a health sector and the claim to know antimalarial drugs, predispose patients to self-medication. There is an urgent need to regulate this practice to avoid its harmful consequences.