Background Mozambique classifies but does not yet enforce antibiotics as prescription-only-medicine (POM) allowing the public access to a variety of antibiotics that otherwise are provided on prescription. This contributes to the growing practice of self-medication with antibiotics (SMA) which systematically exposes individuals to the risk of developing antibiotic resistance, antibiotic side effects and increases the health service costs and morbidity. This study aimed at describing the patterns of SMA among Maputo city pharmacy customers. Methods A qualitative study conducted between October 2018 and March 2019 was developed with thirty-two pharmacy customers and seventeen pharmacists. Using convenience sampling, customers were recruited after buying antibiotics without prescription from nine private pharmacies. Of the thirty-two participants, twenty participated in in-depth interviews and twelve in two focus groups discussions (FGD) with six participants each. Purposive sampling and a snowball technique were used to recruit pharmacists. The transcripts were coded and analyzed using latent content analysis. Nvivo 11 was used to store and retrieve the data. The COREQ (Tong, 2007) checklist for interviews and FGD was performed. Results Customers admitted practices of SMA, pharmacists admitted dispensing a variety of antibiotics without prescription. Non-prescribed antibiotics (NPA) were obtained through five different patterns including; using the generic name, describing the physical appearance and using empty package, describing symptoms or health problem to pharmacists, using old prescriptions and sharing antibiotics with family, friends, and neighbors. Conclusion Different patterns of SMA are contributing to the indiscriminate use of antibiotics among customers. The NPA utilization is perceived as an expression of self-care where participants experience self-perceived symptoms and indulge in self-treatment as a method of caring for themselves. Moreover, antibiotics are mostly used to treat diseases that do not necessarily need antibiotics. Strong and effective public health education and promotion initiatives should be implemented to discourage inappropriate utilization of antibiotics and SMA practices.

中文翻译：

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马普托市抗生素自我用药的模式：定性研究。

背景技术莫桑比克将抗生素分类为但不强制使用为仅处方药（POM），允许公众使用原本由处方提供的各种抗生素。这促进了抗生素自我药物治疗（SMA）的日益增长的实践，这种行为使个体系统地暴露于产生抗生素抗药性，抗生素副作用的风险中，并增加了医疗服务的成本和发病率。这项研究旨在描述马普托市药房客户中的SMA模式。方法在2018年10月至2019年3月进行的定性研究与32位药房客户和17位药剂师进行。通过方便抽样，从9家私营药房购买了无处方抗生素后就招募了客户。在32位参与者中，20人参加了深度访谈，12人参加了两个焦点小组讨论（FGD），每人有6人参加。目的抽样和滚雪球技术被用来招募药剂师。使用潜在内容分析对成绩单进行编码和分析。Nvivo 11用于存储和检索数据。进行了访谈和烟气脱硫的COREQ（Tong，2007）清单。结果客户接受了SMA的使用方法，药剂师承认无需处方就分配了多种抗生素。非处方抗生素（NPA）是通过五种不同的模式获得的，包括：使用通用名称，描述外观，使用空包装，向药剂师描述症状或健康问题，使用旧处方并与家人，朋友和邻居共享抗生素。结论不同类型的SMA导致​​顾客之间滥用抗生素。NPA的利用被视为自我护理的一种表达，参与者会经历自我感知的症状，并沉迷于自我护理中作为一种自我照顾的方法。此外，抗生素主要用于治疗不一定需要抗生素的疾病。应实施强有力而有效的公共卫生教育和促进措施，以防止不当使用抗生素和SMA方法。抗生素主要用于治疗不一定需要抗生素的疾病。应实施强有力而有效的公共卫生教育和促进措施，以防止不当使用抗生素和SMA方法。抗生素主要用于治疗不一定需要抗生素的疾病。应实施强有力而有效的公共卫生教育和促进措施，以防止不当使用抗生素和SMA方法。