Assessment of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices Regarding Self-medication among Patients Attending the Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic at a Tertiary Care Hospital in West Bengal, India

Abstract

Introduction: Self-medication is an important health issue. The rising tendency of self-medication has been a cause for concern. Rheumatic patients, being vulnerable to various symptoms like pain and fever, may resort to self-medication. Although several studies have been conducted among different populations, there is a lack of literature focusing on rheumatic disease patients in India. Aim: To investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of self-medication among patients attending the Rheumatology Outpatient clinic at a tertiary care centre in eastern India. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Rheumatology Outpatient Clinic in Medical College Kolkata, a tertiary hospital in West Bengal, India, from July 21, 2021, to September 20, 2021. A total of 105 patients attending the rheumatology outpatient clinic were included in the study. Data were collected by conducting interviews with the patients using prestructured and prevalidated questionnaire after obtaining informed consent. The Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice (KAP) of self-medication were assessed, and the data were statistically analysed using Chi-square tests. Results: The mean age of the study population was 38.77 years±12.56 years. Among the 105 subjects, 61 (58.1%) were suffering from arthritis, 26 (24.8%) from Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), and 6 (5.7%) from kidney disease. A total of 75 (71.4%) study subjects reported that they knew what self-medication was. The majority of the patients (86.7%) were unaware of the common adverse effects. However, 90 (85.7%) stated that self-medication was generally not beneficial, whereas 9 (8.6%) held the opposite view. A total of 64 (61%) reported having practiced self-medication in the past year. Conclusion: The present study reported a self-medication rate of 61%. Self-medication was found to be more frequent among the younger age group, females, and individuals with higher educational qualifications.