TY - JOUR AU - Rachamanti, Ramya AU - Bano, Zaheda PY - 2017/11/23 Y2 - 2024/03/28 TI - The pattern of self-medication practice among undergraduate medical students of tertiary care hospital, Andhra Pradesh, India JF - International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology JA - Int J Basic Clin Pharmacol VL - 6 IS - 12 SE - Original Research Articles DO - 10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20175206 UR - https://www.ijbcp.com/index.php/ijbcp/article/view/2104 SP - 2848-2852 AB - <p><strong>Background: </strong>According to World Health Organization resources, Self-medication is selection and use of drugs to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms which includes the usage of non-prescription drugs. It is widely seen among undergraduate students especially in developing countries like India. Our objective of the study is to know the pattern of self-medication practice among undergraduate medicos in medical college attached to tertiary care hospital.</p><p><strong>Methods:</strong> This is a Prospective, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study conducted among 184 medical students of 5<sup>th</sup> Semester in pharmacology lecture gallery, Guntur Medical College and Hospital, A.P. India. Among 200 students of 5th semester, 184 students gave the written consent for the study and submitted the given questionnaire. Fourteen questionnaires were incomplete and so the remaining 170 were analysed.</p><p><strong>Results:</strong> Results showed that 126 (74%) respondents practiced self-medication. The main health issues for seeking self-medication were found to be upper respiratory tract infection as reported by 39 students (31%) followed by diarrhea (32 students) (25%), fever (23 students) (18%). Drugs commonly used were analgesics (32%) followed by antibiotics (24%). The reasons for practicing self-medication were mild illness for 66 students (52%) and time-saving for 35 students (28%).</p><p><strong>Conclusions:</strong> Though the self-medication practice is inevitable, drug authorities and health professionals need to educate students about the pros and cons of practicing self-medication.</p> ER -