Factors associated with self‐medication among medicine sellers in urban Vietnam

In Vietnam, many medicine sellers serving pharmacies and retail outlets do not have adequate professional qualifications, and there has been a limited institutional control. The objective of this cross‐sectional study was to examine the prevalence and determinants of self‐medication among medicine sellers in Hanoi, Vietnam. Although 96.55% of medicine sellers had relatively serious health problems, only 61.21% visited a healthcare facility, though self‐medication was moderately high (approximately 39%). Adopting Andersen's conceptual model, it was identified that medicine sellers who reported higher professional education, had low confidence in healthcare services, had not received any professional in‐service during the prior year, had less serious health problems and who perceived the current costs of healthcare as too high were more likely to report self‐medication. The findings have public health policy implications for these healthcare providers in urban Vietnam and other similar developing countries. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.