People's health perception.

Edoardo Cervoni   (2012-01-10 09:41)  Central Lancashire PCT NHS

Dear Editor,
I read with interest the paper titled "The use of non-prescription medicine versus self-assessed health: evidence from Malawi".
In the discussion the Authors affirm their findings showed that non-prescription medication use "negatively influences individuals' perceived health as individuals who used such medicines were more likely to report lower levels of self-assessed health".
I argue that the contrary could be the case, which is that the negative perception of health (being unwell) triggers the request for non-prescription medication.
In their conslusion, the Authors somehow clarify the issue questioning the causal relationship.
However, I am still unable to extrapolate from their findings how it can be said that the appropriate use of medicines plays a crucial role in improving people's perception of their health.
Sincerely,
E Cervoni, MD

Competing interests

None

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