Objective  To examine the prevalence of self-medication and knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP) about over-the-counter (OTC) medicine among general population in Gansu province and to provide evidences for developing interventions on OTC self-medication.

  Methods  With stratified random cluster sampling, we recruited 3 600 permanent residents in municipalities/prefectures across Gansu province and conducted a household questionnaire survey during July – December 2017. Epi Data 3.10 was used in data processing and SPSS 16.0 was adopted in data analyses.

  Results  Among the 3 111 residents with valid information, 2 541 (81.8%) reported self-medication during previous one year. Of the residents with self-medication, 66.9%, 43.6%, and 28.5% took medicines from pharmacies, hospitals, and private clinics; 16.1% bought the medicine from pharmacy with doctors′ prescriptions and 15.2% took medicines presented by their relatives or friends; 60.1% purchased the medicine without doctors′ prescriptions for considerations of their minor illnesses. The residents living in urban regions, being male, and being medical personnel were more likely to have confidence in pharmacists when having medication. Family size and whether having a chronic disease were significant factors for knowledge about OTC among the residents (both P < 0.05). When purchasing medicine for self-medication, the residents living in rural regions were more likely to consider the price of the medicine; the residents having regular daily life and being medical staff were more likely to pay attention to adverse effect of the medicine; and the residents with chronic disease were more likely to consider therapeutic effect of the medicine.

  Conclusion  The residents in Gansu province are lack of knowledge about OTC and could not conduct self-medication rationally. More attentions should be paid to self-medication among specific populations such as rural residents, the aged, residents with chronic diseases and female residents.