KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICE OF SELF-MEDICATION DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A QUESTIONNAIRE BASED STUDY

*Hritika Sharma, Anant D. Patil and Tanusri Tetarbe

ABSTRACT

Objective: To evaluate knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication during COVID-19 pandemic Material and methods: In this cross-sectional study, knowledge, awareness and practices about self-medication during COVID-19 pandemic were recorded among adult population. Prevalence of self-medication during last 3 months was calculated. Results: A total of 630 participants (mean age 22.04 years; 69.21% females and 87.78% students) were included. A total of 106 (16.83%) study participants consumed medication without a prescription from qualified doctor in the last 3 months. Mean age of participants who consumed medications was significantly higher than those who did not consume self-medication [27.25 (+10.79) v/s 21.18 (+3.75); p<0.001]. The difference between male and female participants who consumed self-medication was statistically significant (p=0.0087). A total of 96 (90.57%) consumed allopathic medication and 103 (97.16%) used oral medicines. Common causes of self-medication included pain 56 (53.8%), menstrual problem 22 (20.8%), muscle cramp 21 (19.8%), fever 20 (18.9%) and abdominal pain/burn/acidity 19 (17.9%). A total of 102 (96.22%) reported improvement in symptoms after self-medication and 5 (4.71%) reported side effects. Two important reasons cited by study participants for self-medication included minor health problem 70 (66%) and easy availability of medicines at the medical store 44 (41.5%). According to 422 (66.98%) study participants, penalty for self-medication should be based on the type of drug consumed. Conclusion: A total of 16.83% study participants consumed self-medication during previous three months. Increased awareness about self-medication is community is important to avoid complications associated with self-medication.

Keywords: Awareness, COVID-19, general population, self-medication.