Assessment of Knowledge, Practice and Perception for Self-Medication of Antibiotics among Multi-Disciplinary Students Joshi Yogesh1,*, Tiwari Priyanka2 1Assistant Professor, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shri Guru Ram Rai University, Dehradun-248001, Uttarakhand, India 2B. Pharm. Student, Department of Pharmaceutical Science, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Technology and Science, Dehradun-248001, Uttarakhand, India *Corresponding Author E-mail: yogeshjoshi1583@rediffmail.com
Online published on 3 January, 2020. Abstract Self-medication is a very serious as well as highly ignored issue that involves too many risks, especially when it turns to the regular practice. An observational descriptive, questionnaire based study was undertaken among various students to assess the knowledge, practice and perception of self-medication of antibiotics. A total of 220 students were initially screened and out of which 150 involved in self-medication use were analyzed for selfmedication practice. From study, it was found that female students were self-medicating more than male students while the age group 21–25 was more involved in self-medication practice than other age groups. Undergraduate students were self-medicating more as compared to postgraduate students. In terms of knowledge of selfmedication, female students (58.18%) are more familiar with the term self-medication as compared to male students (41.82%). For the purpose of self-medication, amoxicillin was most commonly used antibiotic as compared to other categories. Perception related analysis showed that 33.33% patients were aware of the statement that self-medication cannot be practiced on all the drugs, 53.33% students were aware that selfmedication practice is not better than hospital treatment, 46.67% students were aware of the harmful effects of self-medication, 53.33% students were aware that self-medication can cause addiction and 60% of the students were satisfied with the outcome of self-medication with antibiotics while remaining 40% were not satisfied with the outcome. The practice of self-medication on the basis of incomplete knowledge should be avoided and proper education must be required to those who are treating themselves with self-medication practice. Top Keywords Self-medication, antibiotics, knowledge, practice, perception. Top |