Research Article
Amareswara Reddy G, Divyaja
Abstract
Objective: The study aims at identifying self-medication pattern among rural population and various factors influencing it like occupation, habits, literacy rate, extent of awareness, source for drug information etc. Method:A patient counseling and health screening campaign was held in a rural village called Utukur by P. Rami Reddy Memorial College of pharmacy located at kadapa town in Andhra Pradesh, India. A total number of 124 patients were assessed to identify the self-medication pattern and after the collection of data, the patients were counseled regarding the rational use of self-medication. Results: Out of 124 rural patients (68 male and 56 female), majority of them (40) who take self-medication are from age group of 20-39 years. High illiteracy rate (72%), being farmers and daily wage workers (79%), high consultation fee (26%), obtaining quick relief (15%), lack of awareness about drug-drug, drug-alcohol, drug-smoking interactions (96%), easy availability from nearby pharmacy stores (88%), suffering from one or another chronic illness (58%) etc were found to be important factors influencing self-medication habit among them. Other parameters like symptoms for which they take self-medication, since how many years they are on self-medication, did they experienced any adverse consequences, their personal habits were also assessed. Conclusion: There is an immediate necessity to provide awareness about the use of medicines in more number of villages. The staff and students of pharmacy colleges can have a greater impact upon selfmedicating behavior of illiterates in rural areas by conducting awareness and patient counseling campaigns. As pharmacy stores are major source to purchase OTC medications, community pharmacist has got a major role to play in assisting and providing information to the patients about rational use of medicines