Self-Medication Practices Among Health Care Professional Students in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Pune

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Abstract

Background:

Self-medication practice is common among health care professionals due to their professional exposure to drugs and knowledge of treatment of their disease.

Objective:

The aim was to assess self-medication practice among medical, pharmacy, and nursing students in a tertiary care hospital, Pune. Method: A cross-sectional survey was carried out over a period of three months. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection.

Results:

A total of 318 students participated in the survey; among them106 were medical, 106 were nurses and 106 were Pharmacy students. Out of the total participants, 52.5% were females. Among them, 280 (87.5%) were practicing self- medication. Most drugs for self-medication were obtained from the pharmacy or drug shops, and the most commonly used drugs were non-steroidal anti- inflammatory drugs(81.2%) and antipyretics (67.6%) and antibiotics (35.0%). However, 112 (35.0%) of health care professional students had received antibiotics without medical prescription in the past few months. Common reported illnesses were fever and chills (62.5%) followed by headache (40.0%) and common cold(35.0%).The main reasons for self- medication was that their knowledge about drugs and diseases helped them (67%) and their health problem was not serious(65%). 40 (12.0%) were against self -medication practice and their reasons were fear of misdiagnosis of illness and adverse effect of drugs.

Conclusion:

Our study concluded that self-medication was practiced with a range of drugs among health care professional students. Educating the students and creating awareness among them may decrease the chance of self-medication practice.

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Most cited references 11

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Self-medication: A current challenge

Darshana Bennadi (2013)

Self-medication is a global phenomenon and potential contributor to human pathogen resistance to antibiotics. The adverse consequences of such practices should always be emphasized to the community and steps to curb it. Rampant irrational use of antimicrobials without medical guidance may result in greater probability of inappropriate, incorrect, or undue therapy, missed diagnosis, delays in appropriate treatment, pathogen resistance and increased morbidity. This review focused on the self-medication of allopathic drugs, their use, its safety and reason for using it. It would be safe, if the people who are using it, have sufficient knowledge about its dose, time of intake, side effect on over dose, but due to lack of information it can cause serious effects such as antibiotic resistance, skin problem, hypersensitivity and allergy. There is need to augment awareness and implement legislations to promote judicious and safe practices. Improved knowledge and understanding about self-medication may result in rationale use and thus limit emerging microbial resistance issues. Articles which were published in peer reviewed journals, World Self-Medication Industry and World Health Organization websites relating to self-medication reviewed.

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Evaluation of the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among first-year medical students.

Henry James, Shailendra S. Handu, Khalid Al-Mobaireek … (2005)

This study was undertaken to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among first-year medical students of the Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain. This was an anonymous, questionnaire-based, descriptive study. A prevalidated questionnaire, containing open-ended and close-ended questions, was administered to the subjects. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 12 and the results expressed as counts and percentages. Out of the 134 respondents, 43 (32.1%) were males and 91 (67.9%) were females; their mean age in years +/- SD was 18.01 +/- 0.78. The respondents' knowledge about appropriate self-medication was poor, but knowledge of the benefits and risks of self-medication was adequate. The respondents found self-medication to be time-saving, economical, convenient and providing quick relief in common illnesses. Important disadvantages of self-medication mentioned were the risk of making a wrong diagnosis, inappropriate drug use and adverse effects. The majority (76.9%) of the respondents had a positive attitude favoring self-medication. Self-medication was practiced by 44.8% of the subjects. The most common indications for self-medication were to relieve the symptoms of headache (70.9%), cough, cold and sore throat (53.7%), stomachache (32.8%) and fever (29.9%). Analgesics (81.3%) were the most common drugs used for self-medication. The practice of self-medication was appropriate in only 14.2% of cases. Knowledge about appropriate self-medication was poor, attitude towards self-medication was positive, and the practice of self-medication was common and often inappropriate.

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Self-Medication Practices and Risk Factors for Self-Medication among Medical Students in Belgrade, Serbia

Jasminka Lukovic, Vladimir Miletic, Tatjana Pekmezovic … (2014)

Introduction Self-medication among future health care professionals can represent a serious threat to professionalism in medicine and it has potential to put at risk public trust into this profession. The aim of this research was to investigate prevalence and risk factors for self-medication among population of medical students, because it was previously shown that their attitudes towards pharmacotherapy could affect the way they could prescribe medication in the future. Material and Methods Research was performed as a cross-sectional study and it included 1296 (84.1%) 1st, 3rd and 6th year students of School of Medicine, University of Belgrade. Students filled out a demographic and self-medication questionnaire created for the purpose of this research and the Physical Health Questionnaire – 9 (PHQ-9). Questions about self-medication were related to the period of the previous year. Results Self-medication was reported by 79.9% students. The most frequently self-prescribed medications were analgesics (55.4%). Independent risk factors for self-medication were possession of home-pharmacies (OR = 5.3, CI 95% 3.89–7.23), lower level of father's education (OR = 1.6, CI 95% 1.18–2.25), consumption of alcoholic beverages (OR = 1.5, CI 95% 1.13–2.08), less than 1 hour spent in physical activity per week (OR = 1.4, CI 95% 1.00–2.02), female gender (OR = 1.4, CI 95% 1.02–1.89), older age (OR = 1.1, CI 95% 1.07–1.21) and higher PHQ-9 score (OR = 1.09, CI 95% 1.05–1.12). Conclusions Self-medication is an important issue among population of medical students. Prevalence of self-medication could be controlled through regulatory authorities and further education.