The determinants of self-medication: evidence from urban Vietnam

Abstract

This study examines the primary determinants of self-medications among urban citizens in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam using survey data. Employing logistic models, the article finds that the probability of self-medication is positively associated with the respondents’ high school degree or vocational certificate, married status, and income while it is negatively related to employed status, the number of children, the geographical distance from home to the nearest hospital, doing exercise, and living in a central region. Meanwhile, using Poisson models the article finds that the frequency of self-medication is positively associated with the respondents’ high school and vocational, married, income, and chronic disease while the frequency of self-medication is adversely related to male, employed, children number, distance, being close to health professional and central areas.