Self-medication knowledge & practice among nursing students, Uttarakhand India: With a view to develop information booklet

Abstract

Background: Self-medication can be defined as the use of drugs to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, or the intermittent or continued use of a prescribed drug for chronic or recurrent disease or symptoms. Objectives: The major focus of the study was to assess the knowledge & practice of use of self-medication among nursing students of selected nursing college at Dehradun. Uttarakhand, India. Material and Methods: This cross‐sectional descriptive study was conducted at the State college of nursing, Chander Nagar, Dehradun Uttarakhand, India. 160 Nursing students were selected through total enumerative sampling. The data was collected using a pre‐tested semi‐structured questionnaire containing open-ended and close-ended questions. Results: The average knowledge score of respondents was (10.26 ± 1. 39). Only 124 students were practicing self-medication. The respondents (51.6%) who used self‐medication found it to be time saving in providing relief from minor ailments. Main sources of information for self-medication were consulted text books (36.3%). The most common ailments for which self‐medication used were: the common cold (25%), fever (20.2%) and dysmenorrhoea (14.5%). Antipyretics (25.8%), analgesics (38.7%), antihistamines (12.9%) and antibiotics (8.1%) were the most common self-medicated drugs. Conclusion: The prevalence of self‐medication among nursing students is high, facilitated by the easy availability of drugs and information from textbooks or seniors.