Background: A large percent of the population in developing countries is comprised of children. Drug utilization patterns in children is of great concern universally and has gained a lot of attention.Objectives: The aim of this study was to test the Pakistani parents’ knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) towards self-medicating their children.Methods: A cross-sectional study was designed and the data collection was carried out in several government and private hospitals in Karachi, Pakistan. Non probability convenient random sampling method was employed to select the participants.Results: In our study, 45 (44.55%) parents were university graduates. The most frequent medicines used were Panadol (paracetamol) 84 (83%). The most common self-treated symptom was cough & cold 73 (72.27%). In case of self-treatment failure most of the parents in the present study tend to consult general practitioners in private clinics 62 (61%), while 31 (31%) of them seek advice from child specialists in hospitals. Doctors were the first favourite source for 92 (91.0%) of parents. The most common reasons were the expensive consultation fees and long waiting time in the clinics. A large portion of parents disagreed that health care workers’ attitudes were bad, or that information relayed to them was insufficient. Another important finding was 52 (51.4%) of parents were convinced that they can diagnose their child’s illnesses by the symptoms.Conclusions: The study uncovered that parents’ knowledge was lacking, and their parental self-medication practice demonstrated to be unseemly. Based on the results of our study, we conclude that there is a critical need of appropriate interventions to tackle this issue.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.15(1) 2016 p.33-38

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Introduction: Devastating floods from July to September 2010 broke all previous records of havoc caused by natural disasters in Pakistan. Flood caused 20 million people to loose their homes, profession and community making them internally displaced. Devastating consequences are still continuous within the country. Objectives: To find out the prevalence of anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder among flood affected Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) of Sind. Aims: To find out psychiatric morbidity in IDPs so that proper attention should be paid to rehabilitation of these effectees and psychiatric support should be provided specially to those who are more affected by psychological trauma. Methods: Cross sectional study conducted in Razzakabad, an area located in periphery of Karachi. PTSD prevalence was measured using the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire and levels of anxiety and depression were measured using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25. SPSS 17 was used for data entry and analysis. Results: Total 303 subjects were included in this study out of which 55% were females.The total Scores on Hopkins symptoms checklist-25 (HSCL-25) and on Harvard trauma Questionnaire were significantly high and psychiatric morbidity was present in 42% of the population. The presence of psychological distress was more in females (65.6%) (p= .05).32% of the subjects had symptoms of PTSD.44% of the population was screened positive for anxiety and depression symptoms were present in 39% of the population. Conclusions: Besides being displaced from their residence exposure to trauma come out to be the important causative factor in creating psychological disturbance among IDPs.

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