{
  "abstract": "Background Self-medication is a common concern among adolescents in low- and middle-income countries, and depression may contribute to it through impaired self-care, reliance on medicines to relieve distress, and limited access to mental-health care. This study assessed the association between depression severity and self-medication among urban college-going adolescents in Bangladesh. Methods This cross-sectional study included 450 students aged 16–19 years from two urban colleges in Dhaka, recruited by convenience sampling. Depression severity was assessed with the Bangla-validated PHQ-9, and self-medication was defined as medication use without a prescription over the preceding two months. Associations were examined using chi-square tests and multivariable logistic regression (adjusted odds ratios [AORs] with 95% confidence intervals [CIs]). Results Overall, 170 of 450 adolescents (37.8%) reported self-medication. Self-medication was more common at higher depression severity, rising from 22.0% among adolescents without depression to over 50% among those with moderately severe or severe depression (p < 0.001). After adjustment, the odds of self-medication were about 2-fold higher with mild or moderate depression, 4-fold higher with moderately severe, and 3-fold higher with severe depression (all p < 0.05), and about 51% lower among female adolescents (AOR = 0.49, 95% CI: 0.31–0.79). Unadjusted associations with unsafe medication practices attenuated after adjustment. Conclusions Higher depression severity was associated with self-medication among urban college-going adolescents. School- and college-based mental-health screening and referral, pharmacist-led counseling, and stricter enforcement of prescription-only dispensing may help reduce inappropriate self-medication. Because self-medication was assessed as a general medication-use behavior, without information on the specific medicines used, their regulatory classification, or the indication for their use, this association is not evidence of depression-related self-medication. Longitudinal studies are needed to clarify the direction of this association.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Public Health and Informatics, Jahangirnagar University",
    "Department of Pharmacy, Jahangirnagar University"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 4,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Md. Muktarul"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Nourin Tamanna"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Md. Nafis Abiaz"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Anika Bushra Boitchi"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a1en73n8exas3.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5",
  "fulltext_url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5",
  "id": "a1en73n8exas3",
  "issns": [
    "3005-0774"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "lcc",
      "RA1-1270"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "3207|Mental Health Treatment and Access"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223361538",
  "pdf_url": "https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-10-25",
  "publisher": "Springer",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a1en73n8exas3.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:45:33Z",
      "native_id": "52de62b77faf46a8adbfa400c2118254",
      "source": "doaj",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "lcc:RA1-1270",
      "subfield": "epidemiology-public-health"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Association between depression severity and self-medication practices among urban college-going adolescents in Bangladesh",
  "title_text": "Association between depression severity and self-medication practices among urban college-going adolescents in Bangladesh",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T13:45:33Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a1en73n8exas3",
  "venue": "Discover Public Health",
  "versions": []
}