Self-medication practices among 2nd year medical students in a rural medical college of Telangana state

Author(s):  
Shivaraj Patil ◽  
Bhaskar Nagaiah ◽  
Srinivas Raikar ◽  
Venkata Rao
Author(s):  
Suman Anand ◽  
Tasmia Akhtar ◽  
Bhuvana K

 Objectives: The objectives of this study were to assess the pattern of self-medication for dysmenorrhea among students and compare it between medical and non-medical students.Methods: The observational study was conducted from May to August 2014. After obtaining the Institutional Ethics Committee approval and written informed consent from all students with dysmenorrhea aged between 18 and 25 years were included in the study. Demographic details such as age and duration of dysmenorrhea per cycle were recorded. A questionnaire comprising 16 questions was administered to medical and nursing students of Sri Devaraj Urs Medical and Nursing Colleges and students attending outpatient departments of R.L.Jalappa Hospital and Research Center attached to Sri Devaraj Urs Medical College. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Results: A total of 240 students (93 medical, 84 nursing, and 63 non-medical) were included in the study. The mean age was 20.1±1.8 years (medical), 20.4±1.4 years (nursing), and 21.9±1.8 years (non-medical). 46% medical, 29% non-medical, and 10% nursing students used drugs to control pain. Most commonly used drugs were mefenamic acid + dicyclomine and mefenamic acid. 56% of medical and all non-medical and nursing students did not have knowledge of side effects of drugs. Among the eight nursing students, six self-administered the drug but 54% and 56% of medical and non-medical students, respectively, followed doctor’s advice to use the pain medications. 40% of medical students self-medicated themselves.Conclusion: Medical students preferred drugs for control of menstrual pain compared to others and most commonly used drug was mefenamic acid.


Author(s):  
Rabi Bhushan ◽  
Akash Chandra ◽  
Raj Kishore Verma

Background: Self-medication is very common in our day-to-day life which is an unhealthy and risky practice. Present study was done to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice among 3rd professional medical students of Shaheed Nirmal Mahto Medical College and Hospital, Dhanbad.Methods: A questionnaire related to self-medication with consent was prepared and distributed among the students of 3rd professional. Data was collected and analysed the results expressed as counts and percentages.Results: Total 50 students participated in the study for taking self-medication and was no need to visit the doctor for minor illness. In maximum students, source of information of the drugs used for self-medication pharmacological based and learning process in the college. The source of drug was medical store. Most of the students took self-medication for loose motion and headache followed by cough, cold and fever. Out of total 50 students, most of the students took paracetamol tablet as self-medication.Conclusions: This study showed that third professional medical students after they studied pharmacological books, they do not use any wrong medicine as self-medication. High level of awareness of 3rd professional students has minimized self-medication.


Author(s):  
Ramya Rachamanti ◽  
Zaheda Bano

Background: According to World Health Organization resources, Self-medication is selection and use of drugs to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms which includes the usage of non-prescription drugs. It is widely seen among undergraduate students especially in developing countries like India. Our objective of the study is to know the pattern of self-medication practice among undergraduate medicos in medical college attached to tertiary care hospital.Methods: This is a Prospective, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted among 184 medical students of 5th Semester in pharmacology lecture gallery, Guntur Medical College and Hospital, A.P. India. Among 200 students of 5th semester, 184 students gave the written consent for the study and submitted the given questionnaire. Fourteen questionnaires were incomplete and so the remaining 170 were analysed.Results: Results showed that 126 (74%) respondents practiced self-medication. The main health issues for seeking self-medication were found to be upper respiratory tract infection as reported by 39 students (31%) followed by diarrhea (32 students) (25%), fever (23 students) (18%). Drugs commonly used were analgesics (32%) followed by antibiotics (24%). The reasons for practicing self-medication were mild illness for 66 students (52%) and time-saving for 35 students (28%).Conclusions: Though the self-medication practice is inevitable, drug authorities and health professionals need to educate students about the pros and cons of practicing self-medication.


Author(s):  
Shashi Marko ◽  
Mahesh Chandra Alawa

Background: Self medication practice has tremendously increased in the society that leads to unwanted consequences such as drug resistance and adverse drug reactions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the self-medication practices among the second year medical students of Government Medical College, Sagar.Methods: It was a questionnaire based descriptive study. A prevalidated questionnaire were given to the second year medical students. Data were analyzed using excel sheet and result were expressed as counts and percentages.Results: Males outnumber females in this study, 40 versus 35. The most common indication for which self medication was opted was cold and cough. The most common source of information used by the respondent were text book (61.29%) and pharmacist (45.16%). The attitude was positive towards self medication and favored self-medication saying that it was acceptable. Drug groups commonly used for self-medication included analgesics 77.41% and antipyuretics 50% and anta-acids 48.38%. Among reasons for seeking self-medication, 79.03% felt that their illness was minor while 64.51% preferred as it is due to previous experience.Conclusions: This study shows that self-medication is widely practiced among second year medical students of this institution. There is intense need to make them aware about the pros and cons of self-medication in order to ensure safe usage of drugs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
Nighat Musa ◽  
Yasir Mehmood ◽  
Asghar Khan

OBJECTIVES: To determine the illness seeking behavior and self-medication among students of private medical college in Peshawar.METHODOLOGY:This study was a cross sectional descriptive study. It was conducted from September till December 2018. Study setting was a private medical college of Peshawar. A total of 250 students were recruited after taking well informed consent. Sampling technique was stratified sampling, from every academic year proportional number of students was selected for the study. Pilot study to check feasibility of questionnaire was done on 10% sample size. Data was collected from students by face-to-face interviews. Data was entered and analyzed in SPSS version 21. RESULTS:The study data regarding illness-seeking behaviors among medical students showed that 162 (64.8%) out of 250 practiced self-medication. The common illness was fever, headache and sore throat. Students used pain-killers and antibiotics without getting consultation. CONCLUSION:Self-medication is common among medical students of all five professional years in medical college of Gandhara University Peshawar. Regarding illness seeking behaviors most of the students preferred self-medication as most of the time medicines are available without prescription in the medical stores. However, still some percentage of students prefers to consult doctors or pharmacist before taking any medicine for their illness.KEYWORDS: Illness, Behavior, Self-Medication, Medical Students, Headache


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