Self-Medication; Among Private Undergraduate Medical Students of Lahore

Abstract

ORIGINAL PROF-3598ABSTRACT… Background: The utilization of medication by individuals in an attempt to treat self-recognized symptoms themselves is termed self-medication. Medical students face obscurity when they seek health care for themselves. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of self-medication among the private undergraduate medical students of a private medical college of Lahore to assess the students' attitudes regarding the practice of self-medication. Study Design: Cross sectional study. Setting: The participants were students of Shalamar Medical and Dental College, Lahore a Private Institute, in Lahore. Period: May to September 2015 (5 months). Methods: The sampling frame constituted of 600 eligible students. The sample size of 192 was calculated assuming 76% prevalence of self-medication practice with 5% relative precision and 95% confidence interval. Systematic random sampling was utilized to administer a modified, self-administered, structured questionnaire. Institutional review board (IRB) of Shalamar Institute of Health Sciences granted permission to carry out the research. The questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 200 subjects after a signed informed consent was obtained. The data entry and analyses were done in SPSS for Windows version 20.0. Results: The response rate was 100%. The average age of the participants (n= 200) was 21.7 ±1.5 years. Almost 83% (n= 159) of students admitted to practice selfmedication with a different range of antibiotics. Convenience 62% (n= 124) was chosen to be the main reason of self-medication followed by cost saving 14% (n= 28) and lack of trust in prescribing physician 12% (n= 24). Fever 18% (n= 77), sore throat 19% (n= 81) and cough 18% (n= 79) were the main reasons for self-medication. Opinion of family members 30% (n= 60), personal previous experiences 25% (n= 49) and doctor's previous prescription 18% (n= 35) were major criterion for selection of antibiotic. Local community pharmacies were used as a source of obtaining antibiotics for self-administration by 72% (n =144). The relation between self-medication and type of antibiotic taken in consideration before use was highly significant, Χ 2 (1, n= 200) = 12.37, p<.001. The relation between local community pharmacies as a source of getting antibiotics for self-administration and self-medication was also highly significant, Χ 2(1, n= 200) = 17.87, p<.001. Conclusion: Self Medication with antibiotics and analgesics is common among undergraduate medical students. Local community pharmacies play a critical role as a source of disbursement of antibiotics.