A STUDY TO ASSESS THE PRACTICES OF SELF MEDICATION AND ITS ADVERSE EFFECTS AMONG WOMEN EMPLOYEES WORKING IN HEALTH CARE SERVICES

Objective: to assess the practices of self medication and its adverse effects among women employees working in health care services. Study Design: A non experimental survey approach with descriptive design was selected to understand the practices of self medication & adverse effects among women employees working in health care services and also the relationship with variables. Study was conducted in OMNI Hospitals, Hyderabad. Methods: Interview schedule was prepared and data was collected from 600 sample selected using convenient sampling technique. All the respondents actively participated in the study and it took about 30-45 minutes to collect the required data from each participant. Collected data was analyzed with the help of descriptive and inferential statistics using statistical package for the Social Sciences Software version-20.Graphical representation was made for significant findings. Results: Majority of the women employees 437 [72.8%] stated that they are self medication users, 197 [32.8%] responded that they are having illness as frequent as less than 15 days, 210 said allergies as major type of illness, Majority 250[41.7%] of them have family & friends as there source of knowledge, The study results showed that majority of the sample are using self medication for cold and cough and skin ailments and effects are seen accordingly. Gastrointestinal effects [F=154.4], nervous system effects [F=119.7], urinary tract effects [F=58.56], psychological effects [F=28.38], allergic reactions [F=185.9] and dependence to drug [F=17.8]. The above also depicts that there is significant association existing between adverse effects of self medication practice questions like gastrointestinal effects, nervous system effects, urinary tract effects, psychological effects, allergic reactions, and dependence to drug. Conclusion: Self medication is widely practiced among women employees in health care services due to the knowledge and hand to hand availability of drugs. Cough & cold medicines, analgesic and antipyretics were most commonly used drugs. Majority of them noticed side effects related to gastrointestinal system like nausea vomiting, allergic reactions and even some stated that they are dependent on certain drugs from a long period. Health care sectors should take necessary actions to ensure healthy environment and can control self medication in women employees. Key words: self medication, women employees, adverse effects.