Self‐Medication Patterns among Medical Students in North India

Abstract

Introduction Self-medication results in wastage of resources, increases resistance of pathogens and generally causes serious health hazards such as adverse drug reactions, prolonged suffering and drug dependence.  Method A cross‐sectional descriptive study was conducted. The participants were medical students from first to final year. The data was collected using a questionnaire. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 2.0.  Results   A total of 100 students, 61 (61.00%) male and 39 (39.00%) female were included in the study. Of the medical students surveyed, self-medication was reported among 88%. The most common ailments for which self-medication were used were: the common cold and headache. The students consulted their textbooks and peers for the medications. Antipyretics and analgesics were the most common self‐ medicated drugs.  Conclusions the prevalence of self‐medication among medical students is high, facilitated by the easy availability of drugs and information from textbooks or seniors. The potential problems of self‐medication should be emphasized to the students.