An evaluation of self medication among undergraduate medical students of a rural medical school from western Uttar Pradesh

Background: Common problems related to self medication are wastage of resources and increasing antimicrobial resistance. They generally entail serious health hazards such as adverse reaction and prolonged suffering. Aim: The study aimed to analyze the pattern, factors influencing and potential adverse effects of self‐medication among the undergraduate medical students. Material and methods: The present cross sectional study was carried out by the Department of Pharmacology, MSDS Medical College, Fatehgarh among the undergraduate students currently studying in a rural medical school from western Uttar Pradesh. A 25 item self administered questionnaire was administered to the students in the classrooms just after completion of classes. Time allocated for the completion of the questionnaire was 30 minutes. After compilation of collected data, analysis was done using Statistical Package for Social Sciences, version 21 (IBM, Chicago, USA). Results: Data of 256 study subjects was analyzed. Overall prevalence of self medication among study subjects was found to be 71.5% (87.6% among males and 50.5% among females). 82.5% had trust in allopathic medicine system. 81.5% students learnt self medication from doctors prescriptions provided during their prior illness. Regarding categories of drugs commonly self-prescribed, they commonly used antipyretics (81.4%), anti-tussives (72.1%) and analgesics (68.9%). ‘Illness too trivial for consultation’ was the most common (71%) reason for self‐medication cited by them. Almost 69% of them were aware of possible adverse effects. 7.7% of them even experienced the side effects of self‐medication. Conclusion: The study highlighted growing trend of self-medication among medical students. Policies prohibiting the supply of medicines without a valid prescription should be enforced strictly. A robust monitoring system among the physicians and pharmacists is need of an hour.