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Prevalence of Self Medication and Associated Factors Among U | 96986

Journal of Research in Medical and Dental Science
eISSN No. 2347-2367 pISSN No. 2347-2545

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Prevalence of Self Medication and Associated Factors Among Urban Population of Thiruvallur District In South India

Author(s): Kamini B*, Vidhyashree MD, Indra Bala Sundarrajan, Arun Jayakumar U and Nandini MS

Abstract

Introduction: Self-medication practices could be beneficial to the public, provided these drugs are used rationally. Easy availability of over the counter drugs without proper prescription from the registered medical practitioners (RMP) in our country is primarily responsible for self-medication practices that ultimately lead to antimicrobial resistance, increased morbidity and mortality. Besides this there is also the problem of tachyphylaxis, drug abuse and drug dependency. Combating side effects and drug interactions in extremes of ages, risk of worsening of existing diseases poses a big challenge. The main objective of this study was to assess the prevalence and determinants of the self-medication practice (SMP) among the urban population. Methodology: The cross sectional study was carried out in an urban field practice area of a tertiary care hospital. The total sample size was calculated to be 153. The participants were chosen by simple random sampling method. After obtaining informed consent the data was collected using a validated questionnaire. Results: Among 153 participants, prevalence of self-medication was found to be 65.3%. The upper middle socioeconomic status (69.3%) have preferred self-medication out of which 21.2% reported pharmacist as the source of knowledge and 10.6% relied on information from internet. The most common symptom for which self-medication practiced was headache (79%) followed by cough and cold (69%). Most of the participants (77.8%) were aware of the fact that an antibiotic course must be completed even after cessation of symptoms; however 43.6% of the study subjects discontinued the antibiotic course once their symptoms disappeared. Conclusion: Self-medication is an important cause of drug abuse and overuse among Indian population. Health education of the public and regulation of pharmacies may help in limiting the self-medication practices.

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