Shumaila Humayun, Warda Imran, Iram Naheed, Nazish Javid, Misbah Hussain, Maheen Azhar.
Self-medication practices; analysis - a descriptive cross sectional study.
Professional Med J Jan ;23(05):608-13.

Background: Worldwide practice of self-medication is increasing and due to lack of awareness emphasis is put on counseling of general public. Aim: To assess the practices of self-medication among general public. Design: Descriptive cross sectional study. Place and duration of study: Fauji Foundation Hospital, Rawalpindi from February 2015 to September 2015. Methods: Two hundred and fifty five attendants accompanying patients in general OPD of Fauji Foundation Hospital completed a self-administered questionnaire translated in urdu language for this study. Results: Out of 255 study participants, 168 (or 65.9%) practiced selfmedication. The prevalence was found highest among 25 to 38 years old (70.2%) and was almost equally distributed in males 65 (65.65%) and females 103 (66.02%). The main reasons for self-medication were lack of time (43.45%), and high doctor fee (35.71%).Factors influencing this practice were age, employment, income and the education level. Conclusions: The study revealed that prevalence of self-medication was high among study population. Majority of respondents practiced self-medication for minor ailments and to get quick relief, or to avoid high doctor fee. Pharmacies are a big source of providing drugs for self-medication. There is need for healthcare professionals to educate the general public about the hazards of inappropriate medicine use, and there should be restrictions on over-the-counter sale of drugs without doctor’s prescription.

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