A Questionnaire Based Study Regarding the Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Self-Medication Among Second Year Undergraduate Medical Students

Abstract

Background: Self-medication is becoming very common in our routine life which is an unhealthy and risky practice. Present study was done to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among second year undergraduate medical students of a private medical college in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. Material and methods: A pre-validated questionnaire was prepared and distributed among the students.Data was collected and analysed using Microsoft Excel and the results expressed as counts and percentages. Results: Total 139 students participated in the study voluntarily and most common reason for taking Self-medication was that there was no need to visit the doctor for minor illness. In maximum students, source of information of the drugs used for Self-medication was previous prescription and source of the drugs was medical store. Only 39% MBBS students accepted the fact, that they always visited a qualified practitioner whenever they fell ill. Most of the students took Self-medication for headache followed by cough, cold and fever. Out of total 139 students, most of the students took NSAIDS as Self-medication followed by lozenges. Conclusion: This study showed that students of second year MBBS after studying pharmacology became more aware about the drugs and hence do not hesitate in taking Self-medication which is a wrong practice.