Publication:

Longitudinal study of self-medication practices in 2nd year MBBS students through their internship

Background Self-medication is common in medical students but few studies address the concern regarding knowledge of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among them. None of the study compares the practice of self-medication among the same medical students as their level of education increases. Hence the study was planned to compare the pattern, source, reason of self- medication and assess the level of awareness about potential ADRs to the consumed drugs in medical students during second year through their internship.

Methods It was a longitudinal cross sectional questionnaire-based study conducted among under graduate second year MBBS students of a medical college and repeated during their internship few years later in order to avoid variability in questionnaire. Chi-square and Fischer’s exact test were used for testing statistical significance. p value less than 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Results 80 students were present on the day of study during their IInd MBBS and 73 students during their internship. Comparatively more students self-medicated during their internship than during their IInd MBBS (68% vs 55%). Analgesics (56.8% and 80%) were most commonly used. 35(70%) of interns were aware of potential ADRs and was statistically very significant in comparison to their awareness during IInd MBBS [9(20.45%)]. Interns rely more on themselves (96%) for self-medication.

Conclusions The practice of self-medication begins early in the career of medical students and is carried forward into their future. Hence it is imperative to educate students regarding responsible self- medication very early in their curriculum.