Understanding Self Medication: Pattern and Reasons amongst Health Care Workers

Self medication is a foe and a friend at the same time. In a developing country like India, Self Medication practices may prove to be an alternative for those who cannot either afford or avail medical help from practitioners. Aim: This study was proposed to understand the factors affecting self medication practices in a tertiary care institute amongst health care providing workers. Method: A cross sectional survey was undertaken with a sample size of 176 randomly selected health care workers of a tertiary care institute of Vidarbha region of central India. Data was collected using a pre-structured questionnaire and later analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: Self medication use was reported by 68.2% of the subjects, maximum subjects were females (55%). Common factors affecting self medication were left over medicines (38.6%) and direct purchase from pharmacists (35.2%). Major cause for this practice was found to be lack of time (28.4%) among study participants. Conclusion: Educating population regarding correct practices of medication and justified use of drugs may be helpful in self medication practices.