Self-Medication Practice among the Undergraduate Medical Students of Government Medical College, Uttarakhand

Abstract

Background: Self-medication is a human behavior in which an individual uses a substance to self-administer treatment for physical or psychological ailments. The most widely used drugs for self-medication are available over the counter for treating common health issues at home or as dietary supplements. It holds a special significance among medical students as they are future doctors. Objective: To assess self-medication practice among the undergraduate medical students Material and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the undergraduate medical students of Government Medical College about self-medication practice. All the students present on the day of data collection, who have given written consent and volunteered to participate were included in this study. Data collected was entered into Microsoft Excel 2007 and results were expressed as percentages. Result: Out of 431, 91.9% of the students practice self-medication ever in their life out of which, 90.4% practice self-medication in last one year. Majority of the students practice self-medication for fever (89.1%), antipyretics being most commonly used drug. Mild nature of illness (77.8%) was the commonest factor for self-medication and previous prescription (59.6%) was found to be useful source of information. Both convenience and incorrect dosage at 65.9% was recorded as the commonest advantage and disadvantage respectively. 48.7% of the students favour selfmedication practice. Conclusion: The prevalence of self-medication among the undergraduate medical students is quite high in this study, though less than half of them favour its practice.