Self-medication, home remedies, and spiritual healing: common responses to everyday symptoms in Pakistan

Minor illnesses are usually treated in home and community contexts. Despite, or perhaps because of, their commonness, responses to minor illness are poorly researched, especially outside developed countries. The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore the range of everyday symptoms and minor illnesses that people in Pakistan might experience and types of responses they make to minor illnesses. The information gathered was to inform the design of a larger project to prospectively explore the responses of people to minor illnesses. Twenty-four participants, aged between 18 and 55 years, were approached through snowball sampling and social networking to take part in in-depth interviews or focus groups. Participants reported a wide range of everyday symptoms, which were then classified based on human physiological systems. Self-care, self-medication, use of home and herbal remedies and spiritual healing were found to be the most common responses to these symptoms. Factors affecting participants' treatment decision-making included past experience, friends' or relatives' experience and advice, family practice, presence of a health professional in the family or circle of friends, and cultural practice. Consulting with a doctor was not a preferred option in treating minor illness. An understanding of how people experience illness and how they make decisions about their responses can inform health services and health policy.