KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE, AWARENESS ON RATIONAL USE OF DRUGS AMONG THE PARA - MEDICAL STUDENTS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL - A QUESTIONNAIRE BASED STUDY

Introduction:Drugs are prescribed on the basis of the severity of the medical condition with which the patient is seeking the hospital. But irrational use of drugs has put the healthcare of the patients at risk. Irrational usage may be due to their false beliefs and limited knowledge about the drugs. Aim &objective:The present study was aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and awareness about the rational use of drugs among Para-medical students in tertiary care hospital. Methodology:This cross-sectional questionnaire based study was conducted in Saveetha Medical College and Hospital, Chennai between January 2019 and May 2019. A total of 250 para-medical students of were included. A pretested semi-structured questionnaire with about 35 questions was used to assess the participants. A descriptive analysis of the data was done using SPSS software version 20. Results:Only 38% participants felt safe of having self medication and about 47% participants were aware about the Over the Counter (OTC) medicines. But surprisingly, 86% participants agreed that they will purchase all medicines written in the prescription and 79% participants strongly agree and stick to doctor?s advice and instructions. The knowledge and awareness towards the usage of drugs rationally was encouraging and the attitude towards it was also promising as about 96% participants have the knowledge of taking the precautions while using the medicines and only 38% participants agreed to the attitude that costlier medicines are better than cheaper ones.