Abstract
Universal Health Coverage aims to increase access to essential health services to minimize household health expenditure. However, a number of people still do not use services provided under the Universal Health Coverage. These people prefer self-medication by buying medicines from community pharmacy. This research aims to study characteristics of these people and the expenditure for self-medication. Descriptive study design was used. The 2015 Health and Welfare Survey data conducted by National Statistical Office containing 139,848 individual persons were analyzed. Based on the survey, an individual who had at least one time of illness that did not require hospitalization within the last month was identified and then the data about self-medication and out-of-pocket payment were collected. Sampling weight was applied using appropriate statistics to make sure that the dataset could represent all Thai population in all 13 health regions. Findings showed that 27.2% of those who had at least one time of illness that did not require hospitalization had self-medication. The percentage of self-medication of region 7 (37.7%) was the highest compared to other regions. By scheme, the highest rate of self-medication was found in the social security members (35.0%). Rural population had 10.4% more self-medication than urban population. Most of the people who used self-medication strategy were in the lowest quintile and had no underlying diseases. Their symptoms included common cold/cough and running nose (44.4%). The median cost of self-medication was 60 Baht per visit. For patients with underlying diseases, cost was as high as 120 Baht per visit. Factors associated with self-medication should be examined in further studies. Quality development of community pharmacy should be implemented because community pharmacy is still the major source of self-treatment.
