Exploration of self-medication practice in Pokhara valley of Nepal

Abstract

Background: Self-medication (SM) is the practice of consuming medication without the consultation of physician. The drugs most commonly self-medicated are paracetamol, analgesics, ranitidine, oral rehydration solution and antibiotics. The objective of the study was to assess the SM status and its causes in Pokhara valley of Nepal. Method: The study was conducted among the people residing in Pokhara metropolitan city. The study duration was of 4 months from April to July, 2018. The study population were patients attending health general and oral health screening programs at Baidam, Birauta, Hemja and Pame areas of Pokhara. Structured questionnaire was used to collect demographics of the patients and the details of the usage of self-medication. Result: Out of 201 patients, 38.2% patients were found to be self-medicating. The most common illness sought for SM was ache (headache, body ache) in 50% subjects followed by cough and cold in 31% and gastritis in 23%. Paracetamol was the drug consumed by 16 subjects followed by nimesulide by 11. Lack of knowledge about the disadvantages of SM led to self-medication in 65% of respondents. The personnel most commonly consulted for medication were pharmacists (60%). Conclusion: The trend of SM is high in Pokhara valley. The comedics were consulted most often for SM due to lack of knowledge of consultation to physicians. The public should be made aware about SM.

Prevalence, knowledge and associated factors on self-medication practice among the community of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Nepal: a cross-sectional study

“…The prevalence of SM in this study was 45.2%. The prevalence rate was in agreement with earlier studies done in Nepal for Pokhara (38.2%) and Morang (44.04%) (Paudel and Aryal, 2020;Parajuli et al, 2019). The studies done in India showed a prevalence rate of 53.57% (Rashid et al, 2020) and that for Yemen reported as 77.3% (Alshakka et al, 2019).…”

“…Categories of medicine use for SM were antipyretic followed by antimicrobials, NSAIDs, anti-cold preparation, drugs used in acidity, antihistaminic and oral contraception. A similar drug used pattern was mentioned in other studies (Bhattarai et al, 2014;Paudel and Aryal, 2020;Parajuli et al, 2019). A signi icant proportion of study participants used antimicrobials for SM, which is in agreement with the earlier study (Karmacharya et al, 2018).…”

“…In developing countries, prevalence varies from 8.3% to 87% (Parulekar et al, 2016). In the case of Nepal, few studies conducted in different regions of the country reported a prevalence rate in the range of 38.2% to 94.9% (Paudel and Aryal, 2020;Parajuli et al, 2019;Baral et al, 2019). The willingness of SM practice has been attributed to the unaffordability of treatment, easy access to medicine, the time factor, unawareness, previous experience, etc.…”

Economic and social drivers of antibiotic dispensing practices among community pharmacies in Nepal

“…We conducted the current study in Nepal, where pharmacists are the first and often the only point of health services for a large segment of the population [13]. In 2016, 30.6% children with a cough or a fever visited an informal sector provider, such as drug shops or pharmacies [14].…”

Combating the COVID-19 Pandemic: Experiences of the First Wave From Nepal

“…Understandably, the scenario of the proportion of symptomatic to asymptomatic cases remains to vary between countries and care facilities. Few possible reasons for low symptomatic cases reported in the Nepalese population may be poor health-seeking behavior and utilization of tertiary health care services ( 11 ) for mild symptomatic cases, home isolation without a diagnosis, and a high rate of self-medication practices ( 12 ).…”