Parental Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices towards Self-medication for Various Oral Health-related Problems in Children: A Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Over the years, there has been an increase in the practice of self-medication (SM) with over-the-counter drugs for dental conditions. Regarding paediatric patients, it is important for parents to have proper knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) regarding SM for their children. Aim: To assess the parental KAP towards SM for various oral health-related problems of children below 15 years of age. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at schools in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, India, between March 2021 and January 2022. A total of 323 parents of children aged up to 15 years were included in the study. Data were collected from parents through a prevalidated questionnaire to record their demographic details and KAP of SM. Fisher's exact test was used to compare KAP of SM with the age, gender, education, and socioeconomic status (SES) of parents. Results: The most common medicine and reason for which SM was practiced were pain relievers (85%) and expensive dental treatment (39.8%), respectively. The pharmacist was the most common source of information for SM (46.9%) and drug dosage (46%). There was a significant association (p=<0.001) between children age groups and the presentation form of medicine. Additionally, statistically significant differences were found when comparing parents' educational level and SES with dosage difference (p=0.01, p=<0.001), route of administration of medicine (p=0.04, p=<0.002), preference for expensive medicine (p=<0.001, p=<0.001), and reasons for not visiting the dentist (p=<0.01, p=<0.001), respectively. Furthermore, when SES was compared with course completion, a statistically significant difference was found (p=<0.05). Conclusion: Knowledge regarding SM practice was lower in the low educational and low SES groups.