Perception and practice of 4th year MBBS students on self- medication

Background: Self-medication practice is widespread in many countries and the irrational use of drugs is a cause of concern. It assumes a special significance among medical students as they are exposed to knowledge about diseases and drugs. Medical students must be able to distinguish about their drugs outcomes on body. Aim: To assess perception and practice of self-medication among undergraduate medical students. Methods: A descriptive study was carried out among 4thyear MBBS students of Lahore Medical & Dental College in January 2019. Students of 4th year MBBS were asked to engage in the study after getting voluntary informed consent. A structured questionnaire was used. Data was entered, analyzed in SPSS 20. Results: In this study respondents 39.1% were male and 60.9% female. It was found that 77(67%) students practiced self-medication. The principal morbidity for seeking self-medication was headache as reported by 96(83.5%) students. NSAIDS were most commonly self-medicated as reported by 67(58.3%) students. Only 31(27%) students advised others for self-medication. Conclusion: Self-medication is widely practiced among under- graduate medical students. In this situation, we should educate the students about advantages and disadvantages of self-medication. Keywords: Self-medication, medical students, perception, practice.

Assessment of Self-medication Practices During COVID-19 Pandemic in Hyderabad and Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Lack of appropriate treatment for COVID-19 infection led the general population of Pakistan toward self-medication and symptomatic treatment; almost 80% of the population collected medications for future use during pandemic. Thus, the current study aimed to assess the use of medication as symptomatic treatment preventive strategy. Methods: This descriptive cross–sectional study was conducted on a local population of Hyderabad and Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. The study duration was six months (April– September 2020). A total of 698 responders were selected via random sampling method. The number of participants were recruited based on 95% confidence interval with 5% margin error. Data were transferred into analysis sheet descriptively. Results: Most participants responded to the use of different over-the-counter (OTC) products for headache. The use of antibiotics with prescription due to allergic conditions, cough, respiratory tract infections including sore throat, and urinary tract infections was also found among the majority. Few respondents had self-medication practice with sedatives due to difficulty in falling asleep, and 9.5% had self-medication practice due to pain. About 20.8% of the population agreed that lockdown was a contributing factor in the self-medication practice. Conclusion: Pharmacists and healthcare professionals are advised to counsel the general public regarding the use of medication. A close collaboration is required at this stage to fight against COVID-19 and preventing the situation from worsening. Keywords: self-medication, covid-19, Hyderabad, Karachi, Pakistan

A cross-sectional study regarding the knowledge, attitude and awareness about self-medication among Bangladeshi people

Background: Self-medication is the use of medicinal products by the consumer which is not prescribed by the physician or doctor. Self-medication practice (SMP) is widely adopted by the common people of developing countries like Bangladesh. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Aim & Objective: This study was conducted to learn about the knowledge and awareness level and to evaluate the practice and attitude towards self-medication among the common people of Bangladesh. Method: Primary data was collected by conducting an online survey with a well-constructed questionnaire. Data collection was carried out from May 2021 to June 2021. The subjects were minimum 15 years of age. From 35 districts of Bangladesh, total 322 people of different age groups, education levels, economic classes participated in the survey. Result: 71% (229) of the respondents were 21-25 years of age. 66% were undergraduate students. Most of them were from middle class society and well-educated. 80% of the population said that they had purchased or taken medicines without any prescription. 57% of them told they do not consider self-medication as a very safe practice although, 87% of the population had practiced self-medication at least once in the preceding year. Antipyretics (212), Analgesics (165), Drugs for Cold/Cough (197) and Anti-ulcer/Antacids (140) were the majority categories of medicines that were used mostly for self-medication. Nearly all (311) of them collects SMP medicine from Pharmacy shops. Previous prescription (146), Advice from family or friends (165) and Internet or other media (113) were their common sources of information for their self-medication practice. Conclusion: Self-medication practice is highly prevalent in Bangladesh. People are not aware enough about possible negative outcomes of it. Therefore, the regulatory laws should be implemented more strictly regarding buying and selling medicines

A STUDY ON DRUG USAGE PATTERN BASED ON SELF MEDICATION AMONG ADULTS IN SUB URBAN AREAS OF TAMIL NADU.

WHO denes self medication as “the selection and use of medicines by individuals to treat self recognized illnesses or symptom”. Symptom based self medication has been prevalent among adult population done through OTC drugs to save cost, time & convenient without consulting a doctor. Aims: Our study aimed to assess the inuencing factors among self medication users based symptoms, drug usage pattern & other factors Methods and Material: After obtaining ethical committee clearance, 132 adults who undertook self medications were interviewed on socio demographic details & inuencing factors for self medication was asked upon where. Data analyses are expressed in frequency with percentage. Results: Based on the self medication practice age group 40-49 years & 20-29 years, females, education(Graduate & above - 50.8%), occupation (professional - 25%) were being predominant users of self medication in our study. Pharmacy/pharmacist played a major role based on the source (97%), knowledge on dose (50.8%). The major reasons for self medication practice were convenience (40.9%) & cost saving (31.1%). The most commonly used drugs were NSAIDS 42.1%, cough syrups 12.9% & antibiotics 8.6%. Based on the symptom based self medication fever, headache & pain accounted for the majority. Conclusions:In a country like India pharmacies acts as the rst point of contact between the patient and the health care system so patient awareness programs, support of pharmacists, stricter laws are required to optimize the use of OTC medicines thereby reducing self medication practice as well as drug dependence, antibiotic resistance.

Magnitude of self-medication practice and the associated factors among adult household members living in western region, Tanzania

Background: Self-medication practice (SMP) is the use of medication without the prescription of health care professionals. The major problems associated with self-medication practice have been drug resistance, drug side effects, wastage of resources, and serious health hazards including death. This study was conducted to assess the magnitude and factors associated with self-medication practice among adult household members in Shinyanga Municipal Council (SMC).Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in SMC, in September and October 2020. A multistage cluster random sampling was used to select study participants. Variables such as socio-demographic factors and reasons for SMP were summarized using frequencies and percentages. Chi square and logistic regression test were used to identify factors associated with SMP. All statistics were done using SPSS version 25.Results: In total 422 adult household members were studied, the magnitude of SMP among adult household members in SMC was 86%. The major symptom of illness that lead to SMP were headache 75(38.9%), fever 71 (37%) and cough 52 (27.1%) while paracetamol 84(43.8%), Ampiclox 30 (15.5%) and artemether lumefantrine 25 (13%) were the commonly used drugs. Perceptions of illness as mild 141(38.8%)and previous experience of self-medication138(38%) were the reasons for SMP. Participants who did not complete secondary education were seven times more likely to practice SMP as compared to those who had university education (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] =7.136, 95%CI=1.447-35.180, P=0.016). Participants with average household income (AHI) (<180,000 TSH=<78USD) were less likely to practice SMP compared to those with AHI (B 180,000Tsh) (aOR = 0.424, 95%CI = 0.214 – 0.840, P = 0.014).Conclusion: The magnitude of SMP in Shinyanga Municipal was found to be high.SMP was significantly associated with level of education and average monthly household income. Strengthening of the community’s awareness on the side effects of SMP including antimicrobial resistance in the study area is recommended.

EVALUATION OF SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICE IN SECOND YEAR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS AT A MEDICAL COLLEGE IN SOUTH GUJARAT

Objectives: Self-medication is the use of medicines by owns self without proper consultation. The practice of self-medication has increased, especially in medical students. Hence, this study was carried out to evaluate the self-medication practices among 2nd year undergraduate students of our institute. Methods: This was a cross-sectional and observational study conducted among the 2nd year MBBS students for 1 month. The study comprised a pre-approved and pre-validated questionnaire in English consisting of two sections: Section 1 included questions regarding demographic details of the students and whether they practiced self-medication in the past 1 year. If they responded with a yes, they were asked to fill Section 2 which had questions about the details of their self-medication practice. The questionnaire was administered by the faculty of the pharmacology department after taking written informed consent. Only completely filled questionnaires were evaluated. The results were expressed using mean and percentages. Results: 139 questionnaires were analyzed. About 80.58% students practiced self-medication. Female students (87.18%) were self-medicating more than male students (72.13%). Majority of the students who practiced self-medication obtained the medicine from the pharmacy (78.57%) and used it for 7 or fewer days. Analgesics (90.18%) were the most common group of drugs used followed by antipyretics. The most common indication was pain or headache (87.50%). Minor illness (73.21%) was the most common reason for self-medication. Conclusion: The practice of self-medication was quite high in the 2nd year MBBS students of our institute. They lack awareness regarding the safe and rational use of medicines.