Owais Ahmad, Ali Hassan Rana and Muhammad Fahad Nazar

ABSTRACT

Objective: The aim of this study was to find out the reasons for self-medication among the non medical students.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at the Department of Medicine, Bahawal Victoria Hospital, QAMC, Bahawalpur from January 2015 to March 2015.

Materials and Methods: Total 500 students participated in this study of Islamia University of Bahawalpur. A selfadministered semi-structured questionnaire was distributed after explaining the purpose of this study and taking informed consent from students. The data was analyzed by SPSS V 21 and results were presented in the form of frequency, percentage tables and charts.

Results: Total 500 students participated in the study, including 53% males and 47% females. The most common cause of self-medication practice was the urgency problem (41%), convenience (18%) was the second most common cause. Headaches (45%) and fever (40%) influenza (25%) and diarrhea (20%), respectively were the most frequently reported causes of self-medication. The source of self-medication advice from the family was the main cause of selfmedication (52%), own decision (30%) and pharmacist (22%). Our study shows that 63% of the students said they would use the same medicine if they had relapse of same illness, and 35% of the students agreed that they were always used and 45% sometime used to read the prospectus before using non-prescribed medicine.70% of the respondents said they would not be afraid of side effects of non prescribed medicine. About Drug Dose Information, 55% agreed that the family was the main source, followed by past experience 25%. Our study showed that in 54% cases pharmacies was the most common source of medicine supply without prescription, followed by available medicine at home that was in 28% cases.

It is clear from our study that 46% of pharmacists do not require prescriptions, while 54% of patients replied that they were asked for prescriptions. The most commonly used drugs were 51% of painkillers, followed by antibiotics 28%, anti-pyretic 14%.

Conclusion: This study shows that the practice of self-medication practice is very high among non-medical educated youth.

Key Words: Self-Medication;  Non Medical; University Students; Adverse affects.

Citation of article: Ahmad O, Rana AH, Nazar MF. Self Medication Practice among Non-Medical University Students of Bahawalpur. Med Forum 2017;28(6):132-135.