Abstract
Background:
Self-medication is the use of nonprescription drugs to treat a disease by an individual. Amid the looming COVID-19 scenario in our country, wherein universal access to health care is not yet fully established, self-medication can lead to serious effects like antimicrobial resistance and is a matter of public health concern.
Aim:
The aim of the present study was to assess the self-medication practices among the nonteaching faculty in a private dental college in Mangaluru, India.
Materials and Methods:
The cross-sectional study was conducted for a duration of 6 months. All the nonteaching faculty employed in AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences were included in the study employing the total enumeration sampling technique. A total of 57 participants were included in the study. Ethical clearance was obtained from the Institutional Ethical Committee. The participants not providing consent were excluded from the study. The data were obtained using a validated pretested self-administered questionnaire in Kannada language. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 23 for descriptive and inferential statistics.
Results:
Around 50.8% of the participants often or regularly self-medicated. Males were found to practice self-medication higher than females, and this difference was found to be statistically significant (χ2 = 11.088, P = 0.001). The most common reason cited for self-medication was that it was less costly (37, 64.9%). Doctors at the workplace (35, 61%) were the most common source of information. The most frequent symptoms provoking self-medication were aches in any body parts (32, 56.1%). The drugs most frequently consumed were analgesics (33, 57.9%), and 28 (49.1%) participants disagreed that self-medication was a safe practice.
Conclusion:
Our findings suggest that the prevalence of self-medication was high among the study participants and it is an alarming situation. A holistic approach must be initiated at the grassroots level which would involve health promotion initiatives such as awareness campaigns and regulatory policies to tackle the implications of self-medication.
KEYWORDS: Dental college, nonprescription drugs, nonteaching faculty, self-medication
INTRODUCTION
Self-medication is the use of nonprescription drugs to treat a disease by an individual. Amid the looming COVID-19 scenario in our country, wherein universal access to health care is not yet fully established, self-medication can lead to serious effects like antimicrobial resistance and is a matter of public health concern. It also results in the wastage of resources, risk of adverse reactions, and suffering.[1] It has been recognized as a worldwide problem due to economic, political, and cultural factors, with it becoming a favorable option of people in health-care services.[2] Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the self-medication practices among the nonteaching faculty in a private dental college in Mangaluru, India.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The present cross-sectional study was conducted in AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru, India. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Board. In total, 57 nonteaching faculties participated in the study.
Pro forma used in the study
A pretested and comprehensive questionnaire designed to be self-administered, consisting of 6 domains, was constructed. Initially, the questionnaire was prepared in English, following which it was translated to the local language of Kannada. Furthermore, back-translation of the questionnaire into English was carried out to check for inconsistencies between the translations. The authors did not find any inconsistencies.
Pilot study
The pilot study was conducted on 10% of the subjects to check the feasibility of the study. Based on the pilot study, modifications were made in few questions. Furthermore, Cronbach's alpha was calculated to assess the reliability of the questions and it was found to be acceptable (0.78).
Inclusion criteria
All of the nonteaching faculty employed in AB Shetty Memorial Institute of Dental Sciences, Mangaluru, India.
Exclusion criteria
Those not present on the day of distribution of questionnaire and those who did not provide consent.
Questionnaires were distributed individually to the subjects. Subjects who took part in the pilot study were not considered for the main study.
Statistical analysis
Data entry was done into Excel worksheet. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Software SPSS version 23.0 (SPSS Statistics for Windows, version 23.0. Chicago, IL, USA, SPSS Inc. Released 2008). The results were summarized using descriptive statistics. Chi-square test was done to assess the gender-wise differences in the responses.
RESULTS
The mean age of the study participants was 46.28 ± 8.83. Among the total of 57 participants, 25 (43.8%) were males and 32 (56.2%) were females, wherein 21 (36.8%) participants had formal education up to 7th standard or less, 33 (57.9%) obtained education up to 10th standard, and 3 (5.3%) participants had completed their preuniversity education.
Among the participants, self-medication was found to be high. It was seen that 29 (50.8%) participants often or regularly self-medicated, whereas 10 (17.5%) participants self-medicated sometimes. However, only 2 (3.5%) participants never used self-medication. On assessing the gender-wise difference in the self-medication practices, males were found to practice self-medication higher than females, and this difference was found to be statistically significant [Table 1]. The most common reason cited for self-medication was that it was less costly (37, 64.9%), followed by ease of availability (32, 56.1%), time saving (28, 49.1%), and knowledge due to workplace exposure (15, 26.3%). Doctors at the workplace (35, 61%) were the most common source of information, followed by previous prescriptions (20, 35%) and television (18, 31.5%). The most frequent symptoms provoking self-medication were aches in any body parts (32, 56.1%), fever (27, 47.3%), cough (18, 31.5%), and common cold (15, 26.3%). The drugs most frequently consumed were analgesics (33, 57.9%), vitamins (25, 43.8%), antibiotics (18, 31.6%), and anti-allergic drugs (17, 29.8%). Thirty-two (56.1%) participants visited the doctor only in case of serious illness or 14 (24.5%) consulted a physician due to pressure from the family.
Table 1.
Prevalence of self-medication
| Gender | Always (%) | Often (%) | Sometimes (%) | Rarely (%) | Never (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 3 (12) | 15 (60) | 4 (16) | 2 (8) | 1 (4) |
| Female | 2 (6.3) | 9 (28.1) | 6 (18.8) | 14 (43.7) | 1 (3.1) |
χ2: 11.088, P: 0.001
Regarding the attitude of participants toward self medication practices, 22 (38.5%) participants agreed that it was a safe practice, whereas 28 (49.1%) disagreed that it was a safe practice. Eighteen (31.5%) felt that self medication would not cause any side effects, whereas 24 (42.1%) felt that self medication would cause side effects [Table 2].
Table 2.
Attitude of participants toward self-medication
| Variables | Strongly agree (%) | Agree (%) | Neutral (%) | Disagree (%) | Strongly disagree (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Self-medication is a safe practice | 8 (14.0) | 14 (24.6) | 7 (12.3) | 11 (19.3) | 17 (29.8) |
| Self-medication won’t cause any side or adverse effects | 7 (12.3) | 11 (19. 3) | 15 (26.3) | 15 (26.3) | 9 (15.8) |
DISCUSSION
Self-medication is the practice wherein individuals self-diagnose their conditions and treat themselves with medicines obtained through various sources. With technology at our fingertips, the problem has escalated at a larger scale globally. Medical professionals are regularly faced with the dilemma treating self-made doctors, wherein patients self-diagnose their symptoms using Google and other search engines and would have taken medications to self-treat the symptoms. Individuals working in a hospital setup are at a higher risk of indulging in self-medication practices owing to the atmosphere. Other factors such as socioeconomic status, nature of diseases, lifestyle, personal values, and access to drugs as well as social media also play a major role in self medication practices.
In the present study, 50.8% of the participants indulged in self-medication practices often, whereas 17.5% of the participants self-medicated sometimes. A similar study conducted by Mukwane et al. in 2019 showed that 53.48% of the participants often self-medicated.[1] The increasing prevalence of self-medication can be owed to the easy availability of medications and growing technology. In the present study, 64.9% of the participants indulged in self-medication practices as they felt that it saved out-of-pocket expenditures. In a study by Padma et al., 31% of the participants practiced self-medication due to ease and convenience and 23% felt that it saved their time.[3] A study by Mukwane et al. also showed that time constraint was a prime factor for people to indulge in self-medication.[1] Due to easy access to over the counter medications along with disparities in access to health-care facilities and a variety of reasons like cost, time restrictions etc, people especially in rural areas are more likely to self-medicate for minor symptoms.
With regard to the source of medicine, 61% of the participants in the present study owed it to the information provided by doctors/health professionals at their workplace. Various studies conducted worldwide have shown that the sources of information for self-medication varied as per the study group assessed. Studies by Alshogran et al. and Mekonnen et al. have shown that around 40% of the participants followed the prescription given by physicians during their previous disease exposure during self-medication.[4,5] A study by Niwandinda et al. also showed that 55.8% of the participants relied on pharmacists for information on self-medication.[6] Body ache was reported as the most common symptom, whereas analgesics were most commonly used for self-medication among 57.9% of the participants, followed by vitamins and antibiotics in the present study. Studies by Alshogran et al., Inder et al., and Niwandinda et al. have presented results that are in consensus with our study results. Around 40%–70% of the participants in these studies use analgesics for aches in various parts of the body and around 20% of the participants resorted to the use of antibiotics.[4,6,7] This is an alarming situation as improper use of antibiotics and other medications can lead to bacterial resistance, which can be a threat to the public health-care systems.
With regard to the attitude of the study participants, around 49.1% disagreed that it was a safe practice and 42.1% believed that it could cause adverse effects. This is in contrast to a study by Hanumaiah and Manjunath, wherein 88.7% of the participants felt that it was a safe practice.[8] This reflects that being in a health setting, the participants were aware of the hazards related to self-medication. However, they resorted to its use due to various reasons such as time constraints, less out-of-pocket expenditure, and self-perception of knowledge regarding the medications. Our study had certain limitations. As the responses were obtained through a questionnaire, the possibility of responses being influenced by social desirability bias may be present.
CONCLUSION
Our findings suggest that there was a high prevalence of self-medication among the study participants and it is an alarming situation. India being a developing country, with poor socioeconomic status amid poor health-care facilities, self-medication is the most sort resort for health problems. This necessitates that a holistic approach must be initiated at the grassroots level to avoid this problem from rising which would involve health promotion initiatives such as awareness campaigns, strategies to avoid over-the-counter drug delivery from pharmacies, strict rules concerning pharmaceutical advertising, and strategies to curb inequities in health-care access.
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
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