A cross sectional study of self-medication for acne among undergraduate medical students

Abstract

<p class="abstract"><strong>Background:</strong> Acne is one of the most common inflammatory chronic skin diseases that affect teenagers and continues into adulthood. Self-medication is common among medical students. Hence this present study was undertaken to study the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication for acne among medical students.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Methods:</strong> This cross-sectional study included medical students of the second phase and final phase (Part I and Part II). A pretested questionnaire was given to them which included questions on knowledge, attitude and practice about self-medication for acne.<strong></strong></p><p class="abstract"><strong>Results:</strong> Self-medication for acne was seen in 240 (77.4%) students out of 310 students. Mild nature of illness was the most common reason for self-medication for acne followed by privacy. Most common source of information was seniors/friends/family members. Most of the students felt that self-medication is part of self-care (48%). Clindamycin was the most common drug self-medicated for acne.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Self-medication for acne is quite high among medical students. Self-medication is part of self-care so it should be encouraged for minor illness. But should be based on thorough knowledge and restricted to over the counter drugs.</p>

Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding Self-medication for Acne Among Medical Students

“…Sixty-three percent of students in our study were of the opinion that self-medication is a component of self-care, which was close to the findings of Karamata et al [6]. Around 50% of the students had no reservations about recommending the medication to their friends and family, similar to the results of Raikar et al [1]. According to our findings, 89.4% of the students thought that the dermatologist's consultation was important for the treatment of acne.…”

“…Similarly, Karamata et al reported self-medication in 59.2% of acne sufferers which was close to our findings [6]. According to Raiker et al, a higher number of medical students (77.4%) practiced self-medication [1].…”

“…Acne is one of the most common skin conditions affecting teenagers of both sexes worldwide [1]. It is an inflammatory condition that results from an underlying pathology involving sebaceous glands of the skin.…”

Prevalence and Self-Medication for Acne among Students of Health-Related Science Colleges at King Saud University in Riyadh Region Saudi Arabia

“…In our study, 73.0% of students believe self-medication is part of self-care and 59.0% encouraged friends and family to self-medicate. Our observation is in line with the independent studies done by Tameez-Ud-Din et al and Raikar et al wherein almost 60.0% of students used self-medication for acne and recommended it to their friends [ 12 , 36 ].…”

Knowledge, attitude and practices of medical students about self-medication for acne

“…Similar to present study, Raikar DR et al, found that out of 352 students, 319 suffered from acne. 12 In present study, out of 200 girls, 100 (50%) girls had mild degree of acne, 32 (16%) girls had moderate degree of acne while 10 (5%) girls had severe degree of acne (Table 4). In our study, out of 142 girls who had acne, 90 (45%) were doing self-medication while 52 (26%) of girls were not doing self-medication (Table 4).…”