Using machine learning to investigate self-medication purchasing in England via high street retailer loyalty card data.

ABSTRACT: The availability alongside growing awareness of medicine has led to increased self-treatment of minor ailments. Self-medication is where one 'self' diagnoses and prescribes over the counter medicines for treatment. The self-care movement has important policy implications, perceived to relieve the National Health Service (NHS) burden, increasing patient subsistence and freeing resources for more serious ailments. However, there has been little research exploring how self-medication behaviours vary between population groups due to a lack of available data. The aim of our study is to evaluate how high street retailer loyalty card data can help inform our understanding of how individuals self-medicate in England. Transaction level loyalty card data was acquired from a national high street reta

SUBMITTER: Davies A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6242371 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature