“Self-Medication for Prevention of Covid-19: A Crosssectional Online Survey Among the General Public in South India”

Abstract

Background: Self-medication is a common practice in developing countries and its prevalence is attributed to less healthcare facilities, reduced economic burden, and easy availability of drugs and local medicines. With the onset of COVID-19, self-medication has increased due to fear and stigma surrounding the disease and hospitals being considered hotspots of infection. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and data was collected from 478 participants using a semi-structured, self-reporting online questionnaire. Responses were tabulated and analysed with the help of SPSS (V25). Results: The prevalence of self-medication had risen to 84.5% in lieu of the COVID-19 pandemic. 80.8% of all males and 86.6% of all females who responded to the form used self-medication. Elderly people were found to have self-medicated the most. 71% of the participants self-medicated as they were anxious about contracting the disease. 50.2% reported using home remedies. Most frequently used allopathic drugs among the respondents were Vitamins and other dietary supplements (51.7%). Treatment by self-medication was found effective by 91.6% of the participants. Conclusion: Self-medication cannot be overlooked as it is most often suitable, cheap and effective. Awareness regarding the proper use of selfmedication is necessary, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic as it can lead to drug interactions, microbial resistance or serious adverse effects.

A systematic review of self-medication practice during the COVID-19 pandemic: implications for pharmacy practice in supporting public health measures

“…Regarding the population, 30 studies were conducted targeting the general population ( 8 , 11 , 30 , 31 , 34 – 36 , 38 , 40 , 42 , 44 , 47 , 49 – 51 , 54 – 57 , 61 , 63 , 65 , 67 , 68 , 70 , 72 , 75 , 79 , 81 , 83 ), 10 was conducted in students ( 10 , 33 , 39 , 41 , 43 , 53 , 58 , 60 , 71 , 78 ), four in dental visit ( 12 , 29 , 45 , 46 ), three in healthcare workers ( 9 , 80 , 82 ), three in individuals visited medical stores and medical store owners ( 73 , 76 , 77 ), two in older adult ( 28 , 48 ), two in patient ( 27 , 66 ), one in COVID-19 recovered patients ( 52 ), one in mothers with school-age children ( 32 ), one in pregnant and breastfeeding women ( 62 ), one in pregnant and postpartum women ( 64 ), one in adults with a history of taking allopathic medication in the last month ( 37 ), one in five doctors with different specialties (interviews) and adults (survey) ( 59 ), one in people with symptoms related to anxiety and depression ( 69 …”

“…The 62 included studies reported about the practice of on selfmedication during COVID-19 in 29 different countries, of which 35 studies were from the Asian region namely Iran (n = 5) (12,(27)(28)(29)(30), China (31), Indonesia (n = 2) (32, 33), Thailand (34), India (n = 8) (11,(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41), Pakistan (n = 5) (10, [42][43][44][45], Turkey (n = 3) (46-48), Bangladesh (n = 5) (49-53), Saudi Arabia (n = 3) (54-56), Jordan (57), Nepal (58); seven from Europe continent, Romania (59), Poland (n = 2) (8, 60), Netherlands (n = 4) (61-64), Ireland (62), Norway (n = 3) (62-64), Switzerland (n = 2) (62, 64), UK (n = 2) (62, 64), Sweden (63), Belgium (64); four from South America, Peru (n = 3) (65-67), Colombia (68); three from North America, Mexico (n = 3) (69-71); one from Oceania, Australia (72); and 12 from Africa, Kenya (n = 2) (9, 73), Togo (n = 2) (74, 75), Ethiopia (76), Nigeria (n = 6) (77-82), and Sub-Saharan Africa (83).…”

“…The study with the lowest prevalence (7.14%) was also from Bangladesh and investigated self-treatment of sleep disorders in the general population during the pandemic (49). There are seven studies reporting the prevalence of self-medication in India, ranging from 25 to 84.5% (11,35,(37)(38)(39)(40)(41). Of these, selfmedication use for anxiety in general population with medium to high socioeconomic status showed the lowest prevalence rate.…”