Prevalence of using non prescribed medications in economically deprived rural population of Pakistan

Abstract

BackgroundSelf medication is described as an act of procurement and consumption of medical drugs without the advice of medical physician for diagnosis, prescription and surveillance of treatment. There is a paucity of literature with regards to self medication among rural dwellers of Pakistan and no initiatives have been taken to resolve this issue. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate frequency, practice and prevalence of self medication among economically deprived rural population of Karachi (South Pakistan).MethodsThis was the descriptive, epidemiological cross sectional survey which was conducted at the two largest tertiary care government based teaching hospitals of Karachi, Civil hospital and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, from January 2015 until March 2015. Seven hundred rural dwellers were recruited; who were the residents of outskirts of Karachi city were enrolled in the above mentioned period through the outpatient department (OPD) of the respective hospitals.ResultsAccording to the survey, 595 (85 %) subjects practiced self medication. The most common reasons evaluated for self medication were cost of consultation (90.3 %) and availability of transport (81.0 %) from rural area to health care facility. The paracetamol as a painkiller (93.0 %), acetylsalicylic acid as an anti pyretic (69.0 %), anti biotic (52.0 %) and anti allergic (51.0 %) were the commonest drug used without prescription of a health care physician. A significant difference was obtained in carrying out self medication between participants earning less than 50,000 PKR and greater than this amount (p = 0.029; 61 % vs. 24 %) and for the self medicated patients having education less than graduation with the participants having education of graduation or above it (p = 0.03; 63 % vs. 22 %).ConclusionThe self medication among rural dwellers of Karachi is high . As a result, urgent steps must be taken to initiate the awareness and educational programs regarding potential risks of self medication. Secondly, strict measures must be introduced to stop supply of prescription drugs from pharmacies without prescription. Thirdly, provision of cost effective treatment from public sector hospitals to rural population can help to reduce self medication among rural population of Pakistan.

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“…In rural and slum areas pattern of SM was similarly high. Similar results are found in other studies around the world [9][10][11][12] .This reveals that respondents in slums and rural areas are not ready to go to doctors for minor problem 13,14 . Under the law "drug and cosmetics act, 1940" there is a strict regulation on sale, manufacture, import and distribution of drugs but in our country due to poor implementation of laws, drugs are being sold by pharmacist without the prescription by a registered medical practitioner as( 66% in the present study).…”

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