The digital landscape has changed today’s world. Access to health information has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, with the emergence of digital platforms, which enable people to take a more proactive approach to managing their health. With 97.7% of the population reportedly using the internet regularly, Malaysia continues to have exceptionally high internet usage rates. According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, 92.8% of Malaysians searched the Internet for information about products and services, including health-related topics (Department of Statistics Malaysia, 2024). With projections indicating a rise to 36.82 million users by 2029, the nation’s internet user base is expected to grow gradually for the sixteenth consecutive year (Statista, 2017). These patterns demonstrate the increasing dependence on digital platforms for information and the necessity to assess the standard and authenticity of online health content.

Self-medication is a prevalent practice in many developing countries, including Malaysia, where a wide range of Over-the-Counter (OTC) medications with established safety and efficacy are readily accessible. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), self-medication involves the use of medicines to treat self-diagnosed conditions or symptoms, as well as the intermittent or continuous use of prescribed drugs for chronic or recurring ailments. It may also include the use of medications intended for family members, especially when caring for children or the elderly (Rathodet al., 2023). In a recent study, 83.9% of participants reported using OTC medications. The most commonly consumed products were supplements and vitamins, followed by painkillers, flu or cough remedies, and sore throat treatments. Pharmacies were the primary source for obtaining these medications. The main reasons cited for self-medication included easy access, convenience, and time-saving factors that reflect the growing tendency to bypass professional medical consultation in favour of quicker, more autonomous solutions (Azharet al., 2013).

The perks of responsible self-medication are numerous and include time savings, less strain on healthcare systems, and increased personal autonomy in the treatment of minor ailments. Additionally, it can increase patient involvement in treatment choices and reduce healthcare expenses. But there are also significant risks associated with self-medication, including misdiagnosis, drug abuse, antibiotic resistance, and negative drug interactions. Reliance on unregulated digital sources, which frequently offer anecdotal or economically motivated advice, increases these hazards (Mandreaet al., 2021). Although practising responsible self-care has its advantages, there are risks involved, and it can occasionally result in negative health consequences that call for expert medical assistance.

Online health information is highly trusted by a substantial percentage of the community. For example, 21% of people think that getting health information online is a good alternative to seeing a doctor, while 23.2% of people think that there is no danger involved. 43.7% thought online health information was good (Agarwalet al., 2021). This environment is about to undergo even more change with the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI). AI provides tools like intelligent symptom checkers and personalised health recommendations, enabling people to make safer, better-informed decisions by increasing the efficiency, accuracy, and accessibility of healthcare information. AI can completely transform self-medication habits and help create a healthcare system that is more patient-centred, knowledgeable, and responsive as it develops (Jameset al., 2025).

Although it is well-accepted that education affects health-related behaviours, such as self-medication, little is known about the extent and nature of this link. According to a Klang Valley study, self-medication is common among adults and is frequently driven by comfort and past experiences. It also revealed that educational level is not a significant predictor of self-medication (Haqueet al., 2019). Although these findings imply that education may not influence a person’s capacity to obtain and comprehend health information, a cross-sectional survey revealed that parents, many of whom possess higher education, frequently manage their children’s self-medication, supporting the notion that education influences household decision-making (Anush Barseghyan and Nazaryan, 2023). Our study aims to precisely examine whether educational background has an important influence on self-medication behaviour in the Malaysian population, taking into account these diverse variables in general.

This study examines the relationship between education and self-medication behaviour in the digital era, with a particular emphasis on how people’s decisions to self-medicate based on online health information are influenced by their educational backgrounds. We hypothesise that individuals with higher levels of education are more likely to self-medicate because they have greater access to knowledge and are accustomed to understanding it, but they may also be better able to weigh risks and make safer decisions. The need to learn more about whether education contributes to or protects against self-medication habits is the driving force for this study. Therefore, the aim is to assess the correlation between educational level and self-medication patterns among adults. The findings of this study hold significance for public health policies and digital health interventions, particularly in designing targeted education campaigns and resources to promote safe self-medication practices across different educational groups.

This study was conducted in Malaysia from January to May 2025, focusing on Peninsular Malaysian social media users who were 18 years old and above. We utilised social media platforms to disseminate the questionnaires to participants. The standardised questionnaire was created using Google Forms to perform a cross-sectional survey. Participants were first asked for online informed consent before a series of questions. Ethical approval was obtained from the AIMST University Ethics Committee (Ref: AUHEC/FoM/12/12/2024) before the dissemination of the questionnaire. The topics covered in the questionnaire were: Demographic information, Social Media Usage, Self-medication practices, Self-medication under social media influence, Perceptions of information reliability, Adverse Effects and actions.

Participants were selected through convenience sampling via online distribution. Inclusion criteria were Malaysian residents aged 18 and above who actively use social media. Exclusion criteria included residents from Sabah and Sarawak, individuals aged 17 years and below and non-social media users. Responses were anonymous, and no personal identifiers were collected.

A structured, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data for this study. The tool was validated through a pilot study, and necessary adjustments were made to ensure clarity and reliability before use in the main research. The questionnaire was available in both English and Malay.

The SPSS software was used for statistical analysis. Trends in self-medication habits were found by analysing participant responses using descriptive statistics. Chi-square tests were used to assess the relationship between categorical variables, such as social media usage frequency and self-medication practices. Logistic Regression Analysis was conducted to evaluate the association between the independent variable and the dependent variable, controlling for demographic factors. A p-value of <0.05 was deemed significant for all the tests.

A total of 324 Malaysian participants were recruited for this study, with a mean age of 27.9 years. The majority of respondents were female (60.8%), possessed a college-level education or higher (90.1%), were students (47.2%), and primarily resided in the northern region of Malaysia (51.5%). The participants had a mean age of 28 years (Standard Deviation=10.9).

The findings in Table 1 revealed that 79.6% of Malaysian respondents utilised social media or online platforms to obtain information related to self-medication. Additionally, 18.5% of participants specifically reported using social media to seek health-related information. Among the various platforms, Google emerged as the most preferred source, with approximately 37% of respondents indicating its use for accessing health information.

The primary reasons for utilising social media for self-medication were for the management of common symptoms such as fever, cough, and sore throat (Table 2). Nearly half of the respondents reported using social media as a source for self-treatment practices. The findings further indicated that approximately one-fourth (26%) of participants engaged in self-medication frequently, primarily to address minor health conditions. Moreover, 13% of respondents reported experiencing adverse effects associated with self-medication, while 43.7% indicated that self-medication did not result in any improvement in their health condition.

Table 3 presents the results of a binary logistic regression analysis conducted to examine the association between educational level and the pattern of self-medication practices based on information obtained from social media. The analysis demonstrated that individuals with higher education (college level or above) were significantly more likely to utilise social media as a source of information for self-medication compared to those with lower educational attainment. Specifically, respondents with college or higher education were nearly three times more likely to engage in self-medication based on information from social media than those with secondary education (p-value=0.005, OR=0.30, 95% CI=0.131,0.696). The findings revealed that respondents with no formal or primary education were significantly more likely to use medications for skin-related problems and weight management (either weight gain or weight loss) compared to those who attained college or higher education. In particular, the likelihood of using medications for skin problems and weight management among primary educated respondents was approximately five times greater than that of respondents with high education, showing OR 5.82 for skin problems with 95% CI=0.98, 34.45 and OR 5.26 with 95% CI=0.94, 29.51 for weight management pills.

In this study, we tried to find out the influence of education on self-medication practice based on social media. Self-medication refers to taking drugs without a prescription or guidance from healthcare professionals. When done improperly, it can cause serious side effects, including death. The rise in this behaviour has been influenced by digital content creators and YouTubers (Bárbara Martins Correiaet al., 2022).

In the current study, 79.6% of Malaysian respondents utilised social media or online platforms to obtain information related to self-medication. Similar findings were reported in a community-based study in India where 57% of the respondents obtained health-related information from social media (“A Study to Assess the Effect of Media in Promoting Self-Medication Use,” 2022). Moreover, the current finding was in line with the findings from a study conducted in Klang Valley, Malaysia (Moket al., 2020). Google was the most popular platform to get information about self-medication, not only in Malaysia but also in other countries (Agarwalet al., 2021; “A Study to Assess the Effect of Media in Promoting Self-Medication Use,” 2022). It is user-friendly, easy to use, gives quick search results, and works with other tools like YouTube, News, and Images, making it a single place to find everything (Quilter, 2013).

Findings reported that nearly 80% of the respondents used social media for self-medication, mainly for treating minor illnesses like fever, headache, sore throat and allergy. Another study in Malaysia with a similar group found that 63.5% of people used self-medication to treat minor health issues (Moket al., 2020). Our study showed a higher rate because we included people from more parts of Malaysia, while their study only looked at the Klang Valley area. The practice of self-medication was associated with peer pressure, easy access to medicines, knowledge about drugs, easy access to the internet and media, and low awareness of the risks related to drug use (“A Study to Assess the Effect of Media in Promoting Self-Medication Use,” 2022).

This study highlighted that higher education was more associated with the practice of self-medication based on information obtained from social media. This result agrees with a study from Armenia, which found that people with higher education were more likely to self-medicate due to easier access to health information, having less time, and feeling more confident in managing their health (Anush Barseghyan and Nazaryan, 2023).

Education plays a key role in the use of weight-loss drugs, especially among young people. Education can influence individuals’ perceptions, which may affect whether or not they choose to use them. In this study, those with lower education levels were more likely to use weight management pills than those with higher education levels (Peyyetyet al., 2025).

In this study, the results showed that people with lower education levels were more likely to self-medicate for skin problems than those with higher education. Self-treatment for skin conditions like acne and atopic dermatitis was common in the community. A previous study also found that those who chose to self-medicate often used topical treatments like corticosteroids and antifungal creams (Martínez-Fernándezet al., 2025).

In the current study, 13% of the respondents ended up getting unwanted side effects because of self-medication. It is quite concerning that, according to a study conducted in India, 23.2% of people believed that using information from the Internet for self-medication carries no risk, and 21% thought that the Internet could replace a doctor’s consultation (Agarwalet al., 2021). Many Malaysians frequently use medicine without consulting healthcare personnel, and many of them prefer to use leftover medications at home for treating minor ailments (Moket al., 2020).

In the digital age, most health services are available online, giving people easier access to health information and a better understanding of how to manage their health. To encourage healthy habits among Malaysians, it’s important to improve health literacy. This helps prevent incorrect dosing, careless use of medicines, and the spread of antibiotic resistance. Responsible self-medication means using OTC drugs properly for conditions that can be self-identified, following instructions carefully, and being aware of possible risks (Alsaadet al., 2022). It is important to verify the source of social media for health medication, use content shared by licensed healthcare professionals or health organisations and avoid relying solely on influencers or unverified information.

This study highlights education as a key factor influencing self-medication practices based on information from social media. Individuals with different education levels may vary in how they assess and act on health-related content online. These findings underline the need to strengthen health literacy and promote responsible use of social media as a source of medical information, especially among those with lower educational backgrounds.

The authors would like to acknowledge the Faculty of Medicine, AIMST University, for providing the support necessary to carry out this research. We thank all participants for their involvement in this study.