A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY ON THE PREVALENCE OF SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICES AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG HOUSEWIVES IN RURAL AREAS OF ERNAKULAM DISTRICT

BACKGROUND Self-medication can be defined as obtaining and consuming drugs without the advice of a physician. There is a lot of public and professional concern about the irrational use of drugs in Self Medication. Even if self-medication helps in reducing the burden on the health care system to a certain extent, it can lead to severe problems like antimicrobial resistance and addictions. This study will provide useful insight on the reasons for which patients resort to this practice and might help the policy makers and regulatory authorities to streamline the process of drug regulations and safety issues of over-the-counter drugs. This study also focuses on the attitude of people, who follow the practice of self-medication. Self-medication in modern pharmaceuticals seems to be a field in which information is scarce and to the best of our knowledge there is limited research conducted to reveal the extent of this problem in our community. OBJECTIVE To find out the prevalence of self-medication among housewives and to study the associated factors in rural areas of Ernakulum district. METHODOLOGY The rural areas selected for the study was the field areas of MOSC Medical College, Kolencherry; 163 subjects were studied (With P=71% from a study conducted on self-medication practices in coastal regions of South India.(1)). Cluster sampling was used to select subjects and data was collected using pretested interviewer administered questionnaire from those who signed the informed written consent. Data was entered using EPI INFO software and analysis was done using appropriate statistical tools. (Prevalence, probabilities, confidence limits were calculated). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of self-medication among housewives was 57.67% and included analgesics (81.9%), antacids (31.91%) and antibiotics were only used by 4.26%.