scholarly journals SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICES AND PERCEPTIONS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE MEDICAL STUDENTS OF MULTAN MEDICAL & DENTAL COLLEGE, MULTAN

1970 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-61
Author(s):  
Asif Noor ◽  
Ejaz Hussain Sahu ◽  
Muhammad Umer Abdullah ◽  
Aftab Yousaf

Background: Self-medication can be defined as "the drugs which are used to treat self-diagnosed disorders or indications, or the irregular or continued use of a prescribed drug for persistent or recurrent disease or symptoms." Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was performed to understand the perceptions and practices about self-medication among students admitted to one of medical colleges in Pakistan located in Multan. A structured Questionnaire was distributed to the consenting students. The data were coded, entered and analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0. Out of 95 medical students 47.7% (n=45) were males and 52.3% (n=55) were females. Results: Among participants, self-medication was found in 98% (n=93) cases. Among self-medication respondents, more than 50% treated themselves only once while 32% twice, 12% thrice and only 2.1 % more than thrice. Self-medication was equally common in 3rd year, fourth year and final year medical students. While 24.2% of respondents perceived as a good practice, 42.1% took it as an acceptable practice while33.7% were of opinion that it was a totally unacceptable practice. The study revealed different reasons for self-medication and found that the most common reason was non-seriousness of disease i.e 43.2%, followed by convenience / time factor 42.1%, Cost saving 13.7% and least one was the non-availability of physician 1.1% . Regarding the use of drugs, antibiotics were the most common class used as self-medication 27.4%, followed by anti allergics 23.2%, vitamins 17.9%, pain killers 16.8% and antacids in 14.7 % cases. Conclusion: The study results indicate that Self-medication was common among medical students from clinical classes and most of students treated themselves at least once.

Author(s):  
Kevin A. John ◽  
Poonam R. Naik

Background: Medical students have been reported to suffer from higher perceived stress compared to general population and students in the other academic fields. The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of stress and to identify the potential stressors among undergraduate medical students using perceived stress scale (PSS).Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among 301 undergraduate medical students at a private medical college in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka. The extent of the stress was assessed using PSS-10 and a questionnaire was used to identify the potential academic, psychosocial and environmental stressors.Results: The mean PSS score was found to be 26.34±3 in this study. Moderate stress was observed in 68% of the study participants. The PSS score was higher among the 2nd year MBBS students. Stress was observed more among female medical students (74%). Inadequate study leave (92.4%), vastness of academic curriculum (84.1%), poor quality of food in mess or home (70.4%), accommodation away from home (60.1%) and high parental expectations (48.5%) were found to be the potential stressors in this study.Conclusions: The study results thereby highlight the need to plan tailored interventions to address the various stressors and prevent stress among the medical students. 


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 52-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa Ramadan ◽  
Asmaa Eltaweel ◽  
Tamwe El Nakhal ◽  
Hanan Hemead ◽  
Abdelrahman Maraqa ◽  
...  

Background: The aim of the present study was to assess the prevalence of self-medication among undergraduate medical students in Alexandria Faculty of Medicine and recognize the patterns and the attitude of students towards intake. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate medical students attending Alexandria Faculty of Medicine from both national and international programs during the period of June 2013 until October 2013. A self-administrated, semi-constructed questionnaire was used to assess the practice of self-medication among 408 students who were randomly selected using a stratified random sample technique. Results: Self-medication was reported by 208 (52.7%) students, with no significant difference between males and females. The highest percentage of self-medication was reported among those who have completed six years of academic study and the lowest was reported among those who have completed two years of academic study. There was a statistically significant association between educational stage (preclinical and clinical) practice of self-medication. Most common medications involved were analgesic and anti-inflammatory followed by decongestants, antimicrobials and antihistaminic drugs. 309 (78.8%) students believed that self-medication is acceptable. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that self-medication is practiced by more than half of undergraduate medical students in the Faculty of Medicine - Alexandria University. Acquiring medical knowledge seems to be associated with the practice of self-medication. Therefore, more attention should be paid to medical curricula to raise awareness and limit the hazardous effects of this phenomenon


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatema Johora ◽  
Asma Akter Abbasy ◽  
Fatiha Tasmin Jeenia ◽  
Mithun Chandra Bhowmik ◽  
Mohsena Aktar ◽  
...  

Background: Since December 2019, the novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, has garnered global attention due to its rapid transmission, which has infected more than twenty nine million people worldwide. World is facing enormous stress and anxiety as there is no effective medicine or vaccine to treat or prevent COVID-19 till date. Experts are recommending self-care like social distancing, respiratory etiquette, hand washing, using face mask to prevent corona virus infection. Materials and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was designed to assess the prevalence of self-care practice among the undergraduate medical students (4th year) of 14 medical colleges of Bangladesh during COVID-19 pandemic. A structured questionnaire survey linked in the google form was used as study instrument and was distributed among study population through email, messenger, whatsapp and other social media during the month of October 2020. Total 916 students were participated in the study. Results: 79.8% of students reported self-care practice in study period. 44.98% of students went outside once in a week. 90.5%, 70.96% and 52.62% of respondents always used face mask, followed 20 seconds hand washing principle and maintained social distancing. Face masks (97.8%), sanitizers (76.7%) and gloves (71.9%) are most common items purchased as protective mesures. Most of the students (76.9%) follow their hobbies as a coping strategy to overcome phychological stress, while 6% of students took professional help. Conclusion: Suboptimal practice of self-care was found among the undergraduate medical students of Bangladesh.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anishma Karmacharya ◽  
Bipashwi Nath Uprety ◽  
Ravi Shankar Pathiyil ◽  
Sudesh Gyawali

Introduction: Self-medication is an important aspect of self-care. It is a common practice in society and medical students are no exception. The aim of this study was to explore the knowledge and practice of self-medication among students of a medical school in Western Nepal. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted among basic science and clinical students after obtaining prior consent from those willing to participate. Respondents’ degree of agreement with a set of 25 statements was noted using Likert scale to assess their knowledge. The practice of self-medication was studied by asking about the use of selected groups of medicines during the past one-year period and noting the pattern of use. Results: Three hundred and thirty of the 356 students (92.6%) participated in the study. Mean knowledge score was 93.2 (SD = 8.1). Self-medication was practiced by 83.3% (n = 275) of respondents. Knowledge about self-medication differed among respondents according to gender (p = 0.03) and nationality (p = 0.04) but not other variables. Practice of self-medication was associated with father’s profession (p = 0.03) and nationality of the respondents (p = 0.04). Conclusions: Students’ knowledge about self-medication was good and they commonly practiced self-medication. Pain-killers were the most commonly used drug.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-70
Author(s):  
Ankita Singh ◽  
Dhabal Bahadur Dhami ◽  
Ritesh Singh ◽  
Gaurav Jung Shah

Introduction: Self-medication forms an essential part of the self-care. Since medical students are being exposed to the knowledge of diseases and drugs, would assume a special significance to assess the self-medication practice among them. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted from March to April 2018 in 200 preclinical medical students of Nepalgunj Medical College (NGMC), Chisapani. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection and the students who took self-medication within last two months were included. Result: Out of 200 students, 123 (61.5%) were found practicing self-medication. Majority of students (47.97%) were taking Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) for fever (18.70%), headache (17.89%) and abdominal pain (13.01%). 21.14% of students were consuming paracetamol for these health ailments. 44.72% of students reported that they were practicing self-medication because of the mild nature of illness. Conclusion: Students are widely practicing self-medication, particularly NSAIDs group of drugs. In this situation, awareness about the pros and cons of self-medication should be must in the medical students.


Author(s):  
Kusum Kumari ◽  
Manju Gari ◽  
Mary Sunita Toppo ◽  
Ira Anupama Soreng ◽  
Priyanki .

Background: Self-medication is a widely practiced trend in the general Indian population. Among the medical students, self- medication is popular because of awareness about the disease and their treatment. Analgesics are one of the most common drugs used for self-medication. Very few studies are available in Jharkhand regarding this subject. So, the present study aims to delve into the pattern of self-medication practices of analgesics among the 1st and 3rd semester medical students of RIMS, Ranchi, Jharkhand.Methods: A questionnaire based cross sectional study was done in RIMS, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India in March-April 2019 among the undergraduate medical students. The results were expressed as percentage and frequency.Results: Out of total 150 and 142 students in the 1st and 3rd semester respectively, 140 and 130 students practiced self- medication.  Advice from seniors was the biggest source of information in both the groups followed by internet and books. Paracetamol was the most common drug (75%; 60%) and headache was the most common indication (55%; 68%). Quick relief of symptoms was the most common reason for self-medication in both the groups (44%; 48%).Conclusions: In both the groups, the students continued the drug even after experiencing side effects (77%; 60%). Most students were of the view that such practice is not acceptable at all times (75%; 72%).


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-31
Author(s):  
Asma Khan ◽  
Afroza Sultana ◽  
Benzir Ahammad ◽  
Shamsun Nahar ◽  
Shafeya Khanam

Background: Self-medication is a common practice worldwide and the irrational use of drugs is a cause of concern. Objective: This present study was designed to assess the rate of self-medication among the medical students in a tertiary teaching hospital in Dhaka. Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pharmacology at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh from October to December 2017 for a period of three (03) months. The participants were briefed about the nature of the study; the consent was taken and a pre‐tested semi‐structured questionnaire was administered to them. The information pertaining to the pattern of self‐medication, indications for self‐medication and drugs used for self‐medication was included in the questionnaire. Result: A total of 303 students were included in this study. The rate of self-medication was 100.0%. A larger number of females were self-medicating (81.2%) than males (75.3%). The majority of the students self-medicated because of the illness being too trivial for consultation (43.2%) and previous experience of illness (43.2%). Fever (73.3%) and headache (65%) are the most common cause of self-medication. Antipyretics were most commonly self–medicated by the participants (98%). 45.5% 0f students told that self-medication is not an acceptable practice. 40% of the participants opined that self-medication was a part of self-care. Conclusion: In conclusion self-medication is widely practiced among students of the institute Journal of Current and Advance Medical Research 2019;6(1):28-31


Author(s):  
Manjula R. ◽  
Vijaylaxmi B. H. ◽  
Ashok S. Dorle

Background: Globally 1.25 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes. Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death among young people, aged 15–29 years. 90% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low- and middle-income countries. Aims and objectives: to know the socio- demographic profile and knowledge, attitude and practice among medical students in S.N. Medical College Bagalkot.Methods: A cross sectional study. Study was conducted from March-June 2016. Data collected from 90 undergraduate medical students after obtaining informed consent. It was semi- structured questionnaire. Results: Good knowledge was seen among 74 (82.2%) of the participants. Majority had good attitude 80 (88.9%) about RTA. But the good practice is seen only among 53 (58.9%) and 37 (41.1%) have poor practice among participants. Gender is statistically significant with knowledge (p value-0.015). Conclusions: The knowledge didn’t translate into practice. Hence laws should be made stringent.


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