ASSESSMENT OF SELF-MEDICATION AMONG MEDICAL an‎d NON-MEDICAL STUDENTS

Background and Objectives: Self – medication is defined as taking medications to treat one’s own self diagnosed symptoms or disease, which might be chronic or intermittent in nature, without proper medical supervision. The objective of the study was to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among medical and non-medical students. Methods: A cross – sectional study using non probability convenient sampling technique was conducted within a duration of four months. Data was collected from a total of 308 students of two renowned medical and non-medical universities of Lahore, using an interview based questionnaire. Knowledge, attitude and practice regarding self – medication was assessed. Frequencies and percentages were calculated using SPSS version 17. Results: Out of total students, 79.9% medical and 66.2% non-medical students reported to practice self- medication. Leaflet for instructions was being read by 54.5% medical students as compared to 50% non-medical students. As regards the awareness of side effects, 78.6% medical and 71.4% non-medical students believed to have appropriate knowledge. Medical 63% and non-medical 59.7%students responded with self – medication “occasionally” being able to treat their symptoms correctly. Most of the medical students 53.2% agreed that self – medication is harmful whereas 49.4% of non-medical students neither agreed nor disagreed. Conclusion: Self – medication is prevalent, both in medical and non-medical students despite being aware of its harmful effects. The findings of the current study conclude that the prevalence of self – medication is high and only a minimal difference in the knowledge, attitude and practices of both medical and non-medical students was observed. Community should be made aware of the hazards of self – medication and strict law enforcement should be done to limit the purchase of medicines without a prescription.