The aim of this study was to determine the pattern of health care utilization amongst the rural community and the prevalence of complementary health care in Kampung Giching, Sepang, Selangor, A cross sectional study was conducted in 2001. Out of the 154 respondents selected by universal sampling, only 131 completed the questionnaires giving a response rate of 85.1 %. The
respondents were asked to recall the presence of any illness during the past 6 months and their use of health care, Twenty-four respondents claimed to be healthy without having any illness (18,3%), 33 respondents (25,2%) reported that they had chronic illnesses, while the rest (n=74) reported having acute illnesses. There were 54.2% of the respondents admitted trying self-medication and 10.3% seelced traditional medication for their respective illnesses. Among the self»medicated respondents, 48,3% used modem medicine, 48 .3% used traditional medicine, 1.7% used both modern and traditional medicines and 1 .7% respondent used home remedies. The results of this study show that both modern and traditional practitioners play important roles in giving information on self-medication, These practitioners as well as the public should be advised on the benejits and side»e]j"ects of both types of medication (modern and traditional).