A Survey on Self Medication among the General Population in Pondicherry

Although pharmaceuticals have made a main influence to health, a large proportion of the world’s population today are facing problems when consuming and accessing medicines. Healthcare professionals are usually sharing their health decisions with their patients in terms of the availability of medicines and its accessibility. Accordingly, patients are being more involved in taking actions either with or without direct healthcare professional guidance, seeking for other facilities to obtain medicines or tend to self-care. Self medication is becoming common in our routine life. This is actually an unhealthy and risky practices. Present study was done to determine the survey on self medication among the general population. A cross sectional study was conducted among the general population of pondicherry.111 persons took part in this cross sectional study. Data is analysed using suitable statistical methods. Among 111 persons participated in the study the most common reason to take self medication is in case of minor illness and the sources of information about the drug is from the previous prescription and the drugs they get from medical shop. Only 28.4 % visits the qualified medical practioner in case of illness and mostly they have taken medicines for cough, cold, sore throat and followed by that they have taken medications for headache. Out of 111 persons most of them have taken is analgesics followed by allergy medications. The general population has taken the self medication which is a wrong practice.

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.

Study of self-drug administration among 3rd professional medical students

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.

The Practice of OTC Dispensing by Community Pharmacist in Nepal

Over the counter (OTC) medications are the group of drugs that can be sold without the prescription of a registered medical practitioner to the consumers. Pharmacists are the most accessible health care professionals to the patient for the treatment of their minor illness. To provide appropriate advice to the patient at the time of dispensing and over-the-counter (OTC) medication counselling, community pharmacists need access to current and reliable information about medicines. A descriptive study was conducted on fifty pharmacists present in the community pharmacy of Kathmandu and Lalitpur districts. Predesigned validated questionnaire consisting of 16 questions were taken for the collection of data. Qualification of pharmacists, numbers of consumer asking for OTC medication in a week, most commonly dispensed OTC medicines by pharmacists, common symptoms told by consumers and average working hour of community pharmacists were recorded. The approval from the concerned authorities was taken. The study was a community based descriptive study done for 3 months. The data of the study was analyzed by using SPSS version 18. Out of 50 Pharmacists, 27 were males and 23 were females. Most of the study populations were qualified as assistant pharmacy. 82% of Community Pharmacy encountered more than ten consumers in a week. Analgesics and antipyretics, drugs for gastritis, antiprotozoals and antihistamines were the most commonly dispensed drugs by the pharmacies. The most common symptoms enquired by patients/consumers were fever (92%), common cold (90%) and headache (86%) as reported by pharmacists respectively. Average working hours of community pharmacists were 67 hours per week. Few pharmacists knew the meaning of terms related to evidence-based health. Most respondents agreed that pharmacists have the necessary training to prescribe. There is increasing use of OTC medicines in Nepal. The study on community pharmacy practices regarding over the counter medicines can assist in evaluating pattern of use of OTC medicines by consumers thus help to reduce abuse and misuse of such medicines.

Road Safety Notification System Using Internet of Things (IoT) for Mountain Road

The prevention of traffic accidents is critical. Moving from one location to another is a part of our daily lives. Every year, numerous road accidents occur as a result of unsafe road conditions, road driver ethics, or a combination of both road conditions and driver ethics. Road safety must be followed in order to ensure the safety of vehicle operators, passengers, and pedestrians on the sidewalk. To avoid serious accidents and injuries, traffic rules and guidelines must be established and strictly enforced. The proposed project's main focus is on road safety in mountainous areas. The primary goal of this project is to create a user-friendly safety system while also reducing the number of road accidents by incorporating a system that is accessible at the tip of our fingers. The method connects the integrated circuit that has been designed in order to send notification to the user on the Blynk application via the method of using an integrated circuit as well as an app platform, Blynk. When driving at higher elevations, a lack of hydration can result in elevation infection, which can affect sharpness. The higher you go, the less oxygen you can see all around you. A few people may suffer from a minor illness such as a migraine, queasiness, or exhaustion. A few people may experience mild symptoms such as a migraine, queasiness, or exhaustion. Keep in mind that dehydration can precipitate the onset of high altitude side effects. This research has the potential to save thousands of lives by providing insight into how road safety affects our lives. It is possible to save lives by combining the use of a smartphone to send notification and an alert system in the form of a warning light.

COMMUNITY-BASED STUDY ON PREVALENCE AND PATTERN OF SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICES AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN S.S LAYOUT, DAVANGERE

Objectives: Self-medication practice is an element of self-care and it is the use of medication without the prescription of health-care professionals. This community-based prospective observational study was undertaken with the aim to evaluate the prevalence and pattern of self-medication practices and to assess the knowledge, attitude, and belief of the subjects toward this practice. Methods: This study was carried out in S.S Layout, Davangere, for a period of 6 months. The data were collected in predesigned validated questionnaire. A total of 400 subjects were participated in the study. Results: Among 400 individuals, 280 subjects were practicing self-medication, and this practices were high among females 174 (62%) than males 106 (38%). The majority of subjects participated in this study were students (36%). The most common indications for self-medication practice were headache (30%) followed by fever (25%) and heartburn (13%). The highly used drug in this practice was acetaminophen (57%). The most commonly used category of drugs for self-medication were analgesics (57%) followed by antacids (17%) and others (anti-hypertensive, anti-diarrheal, anti-pyretic, anti-histamines, and laxative) (13%). The main reasons for self-medication practice were no need to visit the doctor for minor illness (62%), long distance to health center (24%), and inability to pay for health-care cost (6%). Conclusion: This study shows that self-medication is widely practiced among students in our society. There is dire need to make them aware about the pros and cons of self-medication in order to ensure safe usage of drugs. Interventions are required to reduce the frequency of misuse of drugs.

KMS (Knowledge Management System) Obat Ibu Hamil Berbasis Android

<p class="Abstrak">Selama kehamilan, seorang ibu sering mengalami mual, muntah, sakit punggung, atau indikasi penyakit ringan lainnya. Terkadang hal ini menghasilkan keputusan untuk minum obat tanpa resep dokter atau bidan. Perilaku seperti itu dapat menyebabkan risiko cacat janin. Hal ini dapat terjadi karena kurangnya pengetahuan tentang obat-obatan yang dapat dikonsumsi selama hamil. Oleh karena itu, diperlukan suatu sistem yang mengumpulkan pengetahuan tentang obat-obatan yang aman untuk dikonsumsi wanita hamil. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk membangun Sistem Manajemen Pengetahuan (KMS) obat berbasis Android untuk wanita hamil. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode <em>Knowledge Management System Life Cycle</em> (KMSLC) yang terdiri atas beberapa tahap, yaitu evaluasi infrastruktur, pembentukan tim, menangkap pengetahuan, merancang cetak biru<em> </em> KMS, verifikasi dan validasi, implementasi KMS, dan pengujian KMS. Penelitian ini telah menghasilkan pengetahuan <em>tacit</em> dan <em>explicit</em> mengenai obat ibu hamil. KMS Obat Ibu Hamil ini dilengkapi dua fungsi pencarian, yaitu pencarian berdasarkan nama obat dan pencarian berdasarkan keluhan nyeri atau indikasi penyakit. Pengetahuan Obat yang ada di KMS telah diverifikasi dan divalidasi. Pengembangan KMS Obat telah dilengkapi fiturnya sesuai dengan hasil proses penangkapan pengetahuan dari pakar. Adapun KMS Obat Ibu Hamil lebih lengkap 72% fiturnya dibandingkan dengan aplikasi yang telah berjalan, yakni MomsMed. KMS ini telah diuji fungsionalitas dan kompatibilitasnya, sehingga berfungsi dan kompatibel untuk versi Android 5.0, Lollipop (API level 21) ke atas. Terakhir, KMS ini dapat membantu ibu hamil dalam mencari pengetahuan tentang keamanan obat yang akan dikonsumsi ibu hamil sehingga tidak berisko pada janin.</p><p class="Abstrak"> </p><p class="Abstrak"><em><strong>Abstract</strong></em></p><p><em>During pregnancy, a mother often experiences nausea, vomiting, back pain, or other indications of minor illness. Sometimes this results in the decision to take medication without a prescription from a doctor or midwife. Such behavior can cause the risk of fetal defects. This can occur due to a lack of knowledge about medicines that can be consumed during pregnancy. Therefore, we need a system that collects knowledge about medicines that are safe for consumption by pregnant women. This study aims to build an Android-based Knowledge Management System (KMS) of medicines for pregnant women. This research uses the Knowledge Management System Life Cycle (KMSLC) method which consists of several stages, namely evaluation of infrastructure, team building, knowledge capture, design of the KMS blueprint, verification and validation, implementation of KMS, and KMS testing. This study has produced tacit and explicit knowledge regarding the medicines of pregnant women. KMS for Pregnant Women Medicines is equipped with two search functions, namely searching by medicine name and searching based on complaints of pain or indication of disease. Drug knowledge in KMS has been verified and validated. The development of KMS has been equipped with features under the results of the process of capturing knowledge from experts. The KMS for Pregnant Women is 72% more complete than the existing application, namely MomsMed. This KMS has been tested for functionality and compatibility, so it works and is compatible with Android versions 5.0, Lollipop (API level 21) and above. Finally, this KMS can assist pregnant women in seeking knowledge about the safety of drugs that are to be consumed so that there is no risk of the fetus.</em></p><p class="Abstrak"><em><strong><br /></strong></em></p>

Analysis of Victim Cases Dental Technician in Health Law in Indonesia

There are so many victims of dental technicians in Indonesia that require special attention. The factor causing many victims is the number of dental technicians who are illegal and have exceeded the limit of authority that dentists should do. In fact, the authority of a dental technician is only limited to making and installing removable dentures, but the fact is that many dental technicians abuse the rules. This caused many victims from minor illness to death. This is certainly not in accordance with what is stated in the health law in Indonesia. The government must be strict in enforcing applicable health laws regarding dental technicians.

Parental assessment of disease severity in febrile children under 5 years of age: a qualitative study

ObjectiveTo explore how parents judge disease severity of their febrile child and to identify symptoms they associate with serious illness, minor illness or health.DesignSemistructured interviews were conducted. Interviews were audio taped, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically.ParticipantsParents of children aged 0–5 years with a febrile illness.SettingParticipants were recruited at the paediatric ward and the emergency department.ResultsTwenty-six interviews were conducted, in which 37 parents participated. Parents described disease severity of their child mainly in terms of changes in their child’s normal characteristics (behaviour and physical features). They found it harder to describe specific disease symptoms such as dyspnoea or dehydration. Their child being active, eating and drinking well, and smiling were perceived as reassuring, whereas high fever, moving very little and uncertainty about the type of infections were mentioned as alarming symptoms. Previous experience with febrile illnesses in their children was of great influence on the number and accuracy of symptoms they reported.ConclusionParents used the normal behaviour and physical features of their child as a reference frame for judging disease severity. With a larger deviation from the child’s normal characteristics, parents considered the illness more serious. They were less able to describe specific symptoms of disease such as dyspnoea or dehydration. This knowledge is important for clinicians in their communication with parents of children with febrile illness.

The Effectiveness Analysis of ‘Quit-Calendar’ Related to Current Smokers under ‘Quit-For-King’ Project (Phase II)

ackground: Quit-Calendar has been developed and initially tested in Phase I for the Quit-For-King project. The effectiveness and satisfaction of its properties were later investigated among village health volunteers. Objective: To investigate the Quit-Calendar effectiveness, factors related to quit success, and its satisfaction under the ‘Quit-For-King’ Project. Materials and Methods: One hundred eleven current smokers underwent the program. Each participant needed to go ‘cold turkey’ technique, which mean to stop smoking at once, then received 5A counseling and a Quit-Calendar. The measuring parameters included continuous abstinence rate (CAR) and point prevalence abstinence rate (PAR), investigated at 2-weeks, 1-, 3-, and 6- month periods via statistical analysis. Results: Most of the participants were males (96.4%), smoked 10 cigarettes per day (53%), heavy smokers. They were mostly in ‘preparation stage’ of change (49%). CAR was 26.11% and PAR values increased by the end of the 6-month. There were statistically significant differences between the numbers of quitters using Quit-Calendar (p<0.001). Only three factors, including numbers of cigarettes, minor illness, and levels of readiness to quit significantly affected quit success (p<0.001). The smokers stated that the Quit-Calendar could possibly help them to quit smoking. Nonetheless, some limitations need to be resolved. Conclusion: Quit-For-King project has been successful over a 3-year period. The Quit-Calendar is one of the cessation aids that promote quit success and help quitters to overcome nicotine withdrawal. Keywords: Quit-For-King, Quit-Calendar, Continuous abstinence rate (CAR), Point prevalence abstinence rate (PAR), Village health volunteers