Publication:

A comparative study of knowledge,attitude and practice of self-medication among medical and para medical students in a medical college,Mangaluru,Karnataka, India

Background Self-medication is defined as use of medicines without a doctor’s prescription and is frequently practiced among students in professional colleges. The purpose of this study was to compare the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among second year medical and paramedical students in K. S Hegde Medical Academy, Mangaluru, Karnataka, India.

Methods A prospective, observational, questionnaire based study conducted where two groups of students, Medical and Paramedical were interviewed with a prevalidated questionnaire. Demographic data and questions regarding knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication were included. Details and purpose of the study was explained to the students. The collected data was analysed statistically and the comparison between the two groups was done.

Results Total 247 students were involved in the study, group I consisting of 135 medical students and group II consisting of 112 paramedical students. All the students have practiced self-medication, however only 47.3% students agree with the practice. Accordingly, there are significant differences among the two groups in terms of reasons to choose self-medication and awareness about generic and brand names of drugs. Knowledge and practice about use of a particular drug for a particular condition was not balanced among the two groups.

Conclusions Self-medication is a common form of health care with potential benefits and hazards. Hence, it is very important to increase the awareness about the advantages and disadvantages of self-medication in medical college students to improve their knowledge, attitudes and practices of self-medication and eventually to increase the awareness in the society.