Abstract
BACKGROUND: The habitual or excessive use of painkillers, including prescription and over-the-counter drugs, that deviates from medical guidelines is known as analgesic abuse, and this includes taking larger doses than recommended, using the drugs for non-medical purposes, or continuing to take the medication despite adverse effects on one's physical, mental, and social well-being. Devastating health effects may result from this. The prevalence and patterns of analgesic abuse among University of Port Harcourt undergraduate students were evaluated in this study. METHODOLOGY: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted, and respondents were selected using a multistage sampling method. A self-administered, structured questionnaire was used to gather the data, and IBM Statistical Product for Service Solution (SPSS) version 25 was used to analyze the data; means, frequency, proportions, chi-square, and regression analysis were used to summarize the results. A p-value of less than 0.05 was deemed statistically significant. RESULTS: 384 students in all, with a median age of 20, were interviewed. The distribution of results showed that 207 (53.9%) of the respondents were males and 177 (46.1%) were females. The majority of responders, 339 (69.6%), used paracetamol, with headaches accounting for 316 (57.4%) of all uses. The findings also showed that the prevalence of analgesic abuse was 9.1%, with paracetamol being the most frequently abused medicine (42.9%). CONCLUSION: Although the results indicated that the prevalence of analgesic abuse among University of Port Harcourt undergraduate students was low, most respondents used analgesic medication without a prescription from a doctor. The most common reasons for using analgesics were headaches, muscle pain, and menstrual cramps. It is crucial that the institution implements strategic plans to ensure that students are taught how to use analgesics properly.