Prevalence, Knowledge and Attitude of Self Medication among Allied Health Students

Aim: To ascertain the prevalence, knowledge and attitude of self medication among allied health students. Design: Cross Sectional Survey Period: October to December 2017 Setting: King Edward Medical University, Lahore, Pakistan. Method: A self-administered questionnaire having questions about the prevalence, knowledge and attitude of self medication was used to collect data from students of Allied Health Sciences. It was analyzed using SPSS version 20. Results: 300 students took part in the study, majority (80%) being males. Self medication's prevalence was high (86%). Reasons leading to it were minor illness (39.3%) & previous experience (31.5%). The major ailments for which it was done were headache (41%), fever (23%) & cold and cough (10.9%). Commonly sought out drugs were analgesics (68%), antibiotics (13.2%) & anti-pyretic (9.8%), with the most common sources of information being previous doctor's prescription (42.8%), friends & family (21.4%) & physician (16.3%). Dosage selection was based on consult from a doctor/pharmacist (39.3%), previous experience (35%) and senior/friend's opinion (20.2%). More than half (54.5%) participants had knowledge about the benefits & risks of the drugs and 60.3% showed a positive attitude about its usage. Conclusion: We concluded that self medication is highly prevalent in this part of the population, knowledge about its merits and demerits was adequate and a positive attitude towards its practice exists.