T. Chakraborty* and M. Baidya

Nargund College of Pharmacy, Bangalore- 560 085 (India).

Abstract

The survey was done to know about the cause, and spread awareness among the young students about self-medication, which effectively infected them. The study was done on questionnaire basis during the month of October-November in the year 2008-2009.The survey was conducted in the town of kharagpur in West Bengal. All the volunteers were in the age group of 14 to 18 years. The total number of volunteers (male and female) was three hundred and ninety four (394). The data obtained were screened and analyzed and the following observations were made- 32.99% practiced prescribed medication but in the rest self-medication was prevalent (66.24% of candidates). 72.58% of the same population agreed that self-medication is dangerous though they practice it. The cause of self-medication being parental advice (16.61%), lack of time (25.78%), lack of consciousness about the disease (37.82%), Cheap (6.5%), reuse of old prescription (2.57%), quick relief (3.43%), and easy availability (2.0%). Most of the population thinks that the doctor whom they visit will exploit them commercially (69.43%). The common medicines used were Aspirin, Paracetamol, Ranitidine, some Antacids, Diclofenac, Sulbutamol etc. After analyzing the data we came to the conclusion that despite majority being aware of harmful effects of self-medication, its use is high in the educated youth due to several causes. Hence, to ensure safe practices the first step is to eradicate the causes of self-medication. Strict policies need to be implemented on the advertising and selling of medications to prevent this problem from rising. Stricter ‘drug control’ should be employed country-wide.

Keywords

Self-medication; Educated youth; Causes of Self-Medication

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Copy the following to cite this article: Chakraborty T, Baidya M. Survey on Self Medication on Young Volunteers of Kharagpur. Biomed Pharmacol J 2012;5(1)

Copy the following to cite this URL: Chakraborty T, Baidya M. Survey on Self Medication on Young Volunteers of Kharagpur. Biomed Pharmacol J 2012;5(1). Available from: http://biomedpharmajournal.org/?p=2425