B. Rajeshwari*, M. Prabandha, P. Chaitra, C. Meenakshi, G. Sahitya, T. Rajavardhana
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Balaji College of Pharmacy, Ananthapuram
A B S T R A C T
Self medication is the treatment of common health problems with medicines especially designed and labelled for use without medical supervision and approved as safe and effective for such use. Medicines for self-medication are often called non-prescription or over the counter (OTC) and are available without a doctor prescription through pharmacist. Self-medication is the treatment of common health problems with medicines especially designed and labelled for use without medical supervision and approved as safe and effective for such use. The present study is carried out in and around all professional colleges in Ananthapuram. It is a prospective observational study. In our study major number of student, i.e. 476 out of 500 students (96.35%) told that they have taken self-medication at least once in their lifetime while 18 students (3.64%) told that they have never taken self-medication in their lifetime. Self-medication with NSAIDs, antibiotics and other drugs by professional students in and around Ananthapuram was high. This finding is in agreement with a similar study, which posited that the commonest groups of medication prone to self-medication include NSAIDs, antibiotics and other drugs. The study revealed that the prevalence of self-medication with NSAIDs, antibiotic and other drugs by professional students in and around Ananthapuram is very high. Self-medication behaviour varied significantly with member of socio-demographic characteristics.
Keywords: NSAIDs, self-medication, pharmacist, over the counter (OTC), socio-demographic characteristics.