Prevalence and Associated Factors in Practice of Self-Medication in Urban Slums of Southern Rajasthan

Abstract

AbstractBackground: The assessment of prevalence rate, determinants, reasons and major ailments due to self medication is amatter of vital importance for vulnerable social groups like slum dwellers in view of the high risk involved.Materials and Method: A cross-sectional study among 305 randomly selected urban slums adults were conducted atUdaipur, Rajasthan by collecting data using semi-structured questionnaire to analyze the factors, determinants reasonsand major ailments for self medication. The descriptive statistical measures, frequencies and chi-square test of significancefor association were used.Results: The estimated overall prevalence of self medication was 59.0% with 69.0% for male and 50.0 % for female of urbanslum adults. The sex, age, education level, type of family and family income were found significantly associated with selfmedication (p<0.05). The main sources of information for self-medication were the chemist in medical shops (42.95%)and different forms of advertisements (22.62%). More than 90% practicing respondents felt saving of time, easiness andeconomical benefit as major reasons for self medication. The common ailments for self medication practices included fever(25.0%), headache (23.33%), cough and cold (17.22%), diarrhea (15.55%), pain (11.11%) and sleeplessness (16.7%).Conclusion: Community specific strategies with stringent legal measures would be required to encounter the problem ofself medication by vulnerable groups like slum dwellers.