Perceptions and practices of self-medication among interns at Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad, India

Abstract

Background: Self-medication, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is the use of medicinal products to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms. Medical students have knowledge about diseases and drugs through textbooks and clinical exposure and self-medication is a common practice among them. Aim and Objective: This study was conducted to explore the perceptions and practices of self-medication among interns at Shadan Institute of Medical Sciences (SIMS), Hyderabad, and to make them aware about the consequences of self-medication in the form of adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, drug dependence, and abuse. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based and cross-sectional analysis of interns at SIMS. Hyderabad, India, was performed between June 2022 and August 2022. One hundred and twenty-six students were given a questionnaire about perceptions and practices of self-medication. Analysis of Data was done and data were processed as counts and percentages. Results: Self-medication was practiced among (76%) of students and it was significantly higher in females (68.6%) than in males (31.4%). Headache was the most frequent symptom that lead to self-medication and was seen in (90%). This was followed by cold and cough as reported by (81%) of students. Self-medication with analgesics was reported in (90%) of students, followed by antipyretics (67%) of students and later antibiotics by (62%) of students. Conclusions: This study showed that self-medication was widely practiced among interns at SIMS. Analgesics and antipyretics are the most popular drugs among all the drugs used for self-medication. There is a need to educate the interns and also the medical students, who are the future practicing doctors about the pros and cons of self-medication.