Introduction
Self-medication, which is when the general public treats health problems on their own without consulting a doctor, is very common. Self-medication (SM) is a behavioural response that is unique to each person, in which they self-medicate for minor symptoms or illnesses. It involves drugs that could either be beneficial or hazardous. People often attempt to heal themselves when they are ill by using herbs, potions, or medications.1 Since many medications may be purchased over-the-counter without a prescription and offer a cheap alternative for consumers, it is widely used worldwide in both urban and rural populations, including emerging nations like India.2 The judicious use of self-medication, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), can help with the prevention and treatment of illnesses that don't require medical attention as well as offer a less expensive alternative for managing common disorders. However, it is generally agreed that responsible self-medication needs to be backed up with pertinent medical data.3
Numerous variables, such as socioeconomic standing, way of life, ease of access to pharmaceuticals, and drug availability, may have an impact on self-medication.4 Young people are being influenced by the media and the internet to self-medicate, which can result in incorrect self-diagnosis, drug interactions, and drug usage for the wrong reason. People don't consider the effects of using drugs excessively when taking medication for mild ailments.5, 6 Globally, self-medication has reportedly increased. In order to prevent drug-related problems like antimicrobial resistance, which is currently a concern worldwide, particularly in developing countries where antibiotics are frequently available without a prescription, WHO underlined that self-medication must be properly taught and supervised.7
Inappropriate self-medication can lead to resource waste, increased microorganism resistance, and serious health hazards include drug side effects, addiction, extended hospital stays, or antibiotic resistance brought on by excessive antibiotic use.8 The pattern of SM practices in our nation is still unknown despite the fact that the majority of investigations have been carried out in nations other than India. In light of this, we designed the current study to evaluate the general population’s knowledge, attitude, and practice of self-medication.
Aim & Objective
To assess the knowledge, attitude and practice of self medication in general population.
Materials and Methods
Study design
To determine the general population's knowledge, attitude, and practice about self-medication, a questionnaire-based study was conducted after receiving approval from the institutional ethics committee.
Study population
The study was carried out in general population selected by universal sampling method from June 2022 to July 2022.
Study plan
The participants were first given an explanation of the study's goal in their native language before giving consent. Data was collected using a questionnaire that has been validated. For the purposes of this study, specific operational terms were specified, such as "self-medication," which refers to consumer usage of a drug that has not been prescribed by a doctor. The questionnaire asked questions about socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to self-medication, drug use patterns for self-medication, and sources of information on drugs as well as dose, duration, side effects, and interactions of the drugs being used. Few questions were having multiple options. By conducting interviews, the questionnaires were filled up.
Inclusion criterion
Individuals aged older than 18 years who gave informed consent were included in the study.
Results
200 participants (n=200) completed the questionnaire satisfactorily. There were 107 respondents (54%) who were female and 93 (47%) who were male. 75 (37.5%) respondents were between the ages of 18 and 25; 56 (28%) were between 26 and 35; 61 (30.5%) were between 36 and 60; and 8 (4%) were over 60. In terms of education, 9 (4.5%) respondents only completed primary school, 43 (21.5%) had a high school certificate, 115 (57.5%) had a degree, and 15 (7.5%) had a postgraduate degree. 108 (54%) were from an urban location, while 92 (46%) were from a rural area as indicated in Table 1.
Table 1
Sociodemographic profile of survey respondents (n=200)
Knowledge
109 respondents (54.5%) did not self-medicate in the past six months, whereas 91 (45.5%) did. According to questionnaire analysis, the following explanations for self-medication were given by 45.5% of respondents (Figure 1).
About 54.5% respondents who didn’t self-medicate in the past 6 months gave various reasons, out of which the most important was the risk of adverse effects (Figure 2).
According to the Likert scale, the responses to the questions were rated on a scale of 1 to 5 (1-Strongly Disagree, 2-Disagree, 3-Not sure, 4-Agree, and 5-Strongly agree). Scores 1 and 2 were combined to indicate disagreement, 4 and 5 were combined to indicate agreement, and 3 indicated that the participant was unsure of how to respond to the assertions (Table 2).
Table 2
Knowledge about self –medication among participants
Attitude
About 83% of respondents thought self-medication was harmful if it was used without proper knowledge of drugs and diseases, 69% thought pharmacists were good resources for advice and information about minor medical issues, 59% thought self-medication was acceptable in some situations, and 34% thought a drug's effectiveness was unrelated to how much it cost (Table 3).
Table 3
Attitude of participants about Self-medication
Practice
For minor illnesses like coughs, colds, and fevers, the majority of responders (38%) favoured self-medication. The old prescriptions were also utilized. Self-medication was chosen because it saves time, people felt confident in their own medical expertise, and since the clinic was far from their homes and also due to the high cost of visiting a doctor. 31% of those choosing a drug for self-medication looked at the type of medicine, which is mainly allopathic. In addition, elements including price and expiry date were considered. About 73% of respondents said they don't use antibiotics as self-medication. 28% of people chose to visit a private hospital or clinic for common ailments, while 32% preferred to seek pharmacists for help. 60% of those who self-medicated did not read the package insert or drug information sheet (Table 4).
Table 4
Practice of Self-medication among participants
Discussion
The idea of self-medication is concerning. The baseline data on self-medication in the general population were analysed in the current study. In our study, we found that 45.5% of respondents used self-medication for a variety of causes, but in a study by Banerjee I et al,9 57.05% of respondents used self-medication. In our study, it was discovered that 47% of males and 54% of females self-medicated, compared to 46.13% of females and 32.5% of males in a study by Kumar N et al.7 A study by Benameur T et al10 found that 222 (94.5%) respondents were graduates, of whom 125 (56.8%) practiced self-medication. In the current study, the majority of respondents 115 (57.5%) were graduates. The notion that education causes a decline in self-medication habits is wrong. More than one-fourth of the respondents thought that costly drugs are more effective. Because generic products and branded products are bioequivalent, this perception is false. Consequently, the price of a medicine is seldom a reliable indicator of its effectiveness. In contrast to a study by Bhatia MK et al,8 where 28.3% of respondents felt confident, our study's participants 7.8% feeling more confidence while self-medicating. When they have a common ailment, 38% of responders take drugs on their own. The most frequent reason for self-medication (38%) was a minor illness, which is consistent with a study by Thandani S. et al11 findings. These ailments seemed to be benign, but incorrect diagnoses and improper care might result in major health problems. But limited and incomplete knowledge can occasionally have negative effects on health. Most of the medications were obtained from private pharmacy i.e. 32% while in a study by Ahmad A et al,12 44.8% obtained medicines from pharmacy. This practice should be controlled and managed by the regulatory authorities of India. 120(60%) participants didn’t have a habit of reading the package insert leaflet before the administration of the drug. This is a negative habit which can increase the medication errors and side effects to a greater extent.
Conclusion
Self-medication is a boon as well as a curse to the society. The study has concluded that the people are having average knowledge about the medications. But their perspective about the safety of medication is not satisfactory. The result showed that those who are self medicating largely depend upon the pharmacist’s advice. People are well known about the consequences of self medication but still they self-medicate for their convenience.
