Association between depression severity and self-medication practices among urban college-going adolescents in Bangladesh
- 1Department of Public Health and Informatics, Jahangirnagar University
- 2Department of Pharmacy, Jahangirnagar University
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.
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BibTeX
@article{muktarul2026association,
title = {{Association between depression severity and self-medication practices among urban college-going adolescents in Bangladesh}},
author = {Md. Muktarul and Nourin Tamanna and Md. Nafis Abiaz and Anika Bushra Boitchi},
journal = {Discover Public Health},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Association between depression severity and self-medication practices among urban college-going adolescents in Bangladesh
AU - Md. Muktarul
AU - Nourin Tamanna
AU - Md. Nafis Abiaz
AU - Anika Bushra Boitchi
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/25
JO - Discover Public Health
DO - 10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5
UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12982-026-03023-5
AB - 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.
SN - 3005-0774
ER -