Assessment of Self-Medication Practice Among Students of A Dental College of Bangalore City: A Cross-Sectional Study

• Main Authors: Gopikrishna Venkataraman (Author), Sourabha K Gangadharappa (Author), Jeswin Jacob (Author), Nithin Bhaskar (Author), Smitha B Kulkarni (Author), Ankita Gupta (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications, 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.
• Notes: 2319-5932; 2350-0484; 10.4103/2319-5932.201937
• Keywords: Dental students; non-prescription drugs; OTC drugs; self-medication; Dentistry; RK1-715
• Source: Journal of Indian Association of Public Health Dentistry, Vol 15, Iss 1, Pp 73-77 (2017)

Introduction: Self-medication is defined as use of medicines by the individuals on their own without professional advice to treat self-diagnosed conditions. It is prevalent not only among general population but also among doctors including dentists. Aim: To assess the pattern of self-medication practice among students of a dental college of Bangalore city. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among undergraduate dental students through convenience sampling. A questionnaire consisting of 20 close-ended questions related to various aspects of self-medication practice was handed to the students. Results: Among 165 students, 68.5% of the participants were females. The most common ailments responsible for usage of self-medication were cough, cold and sore throat (22.4%) followed by headache (6.7%). Antibiotics (34.2%) and analgesics (23.9%) were the most commonly used drug groups for self-medication. Old prescription (58.2%) was found as the most common source of information for encouraging this type of practice. Conclusion: Majority of the dental students self-medicate themselves. Measures should be adopted to reduce such type of practice by guiding the students about the pros and cons of using medicines without prescription.