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Abstract

BACKGROUND


Self-medication is a pervasive habit, and drug abuse is a severe problem. Since medical students are future doctors, they give it a unique significance. The study's objectives were to assess the practice, knowledge, and attitudes of first- and second-year medical students at a medical college in West Bengal, India, about self-medication.


METHODS


The study was conducted in Nilratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata, West Bengal. In 2021, medical students across the colleges of West Bengal conducted cross-sectional research using questionnaires. Upon being informed of the objectives and design of the study, first- and second-year MBBS students willingly agreed to participate.


RESULTS


In this study, 91.50% of medical students practiced self-medication. The common indication for self-medication was fever (89.2%) and headache (69.6%). Previous prescriptions for the same illness (68.87%) were the main source of information for self-medication. Common reasons for self-medication were urgency (53.33%) and quick relief (50%). Over-the-counter (88.14%) drugs were the most common sources of medications. The common preferred system of self-medication was allopathic (92.5%). The percentage of discontinuation (58.1%) of self-medication was more. The majority of them favoured oral (96.67%) media.


CONCLUSIONS


It was determined that more than half of the student population self-medicated for a wide range of ailments; the cause may be the increased public awareness of drugs brought on by the availability of information via books, the internet, and over-the-counter medications from pharmacists. Therefore, it is crucial to stop students from self-medicating to prevent the emergence of drug habits, resistance, and drug interactions.

Keywords

Awareness, Drug Abuse, Illness, Medical Students, Self-Medication.

Article Details

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

How to Cite
Rupayan Kundu, Nivedita Sarkar, & Tuhin Subhra Pal. (2024). A Cross-Sectional Study Examining the Behavioral Patterns and Attitudes of First - and Second-Year Medical College Students in West Bengal, India, Regarding Self-Medication. Journal of Evolution of Medical and Dental Sciences, 13(2), 36–41. https://doi.org/10.14260/jemds.v13i2.553
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