Background: Self medication with
analgesics is prevalent worldwide due to easy procurement of
over the counter drugs . Present study was done to assess
knowledge ,
attitude , practice and
perception of
self medication of
analgesics among MBBS
students at Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Medical College, Bengaluru, Karnataka.
Methods: A
cross-sectional study was conducted on 5th term MBBS
students of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Medical College, Bengaluru in November 2019. A pre-designed validated
questionnaire was used to collect information on
knowledge ,
attitude , practice and
perception of
self medication of
analgesics . Data was analysed using descriptive
statistics .
Results: 83.3 % of 5th term MBBS
students practiced
self medication with
analgesics . Majority of
students had some
knowledge on
self medication with
analgesics . Common reason for using
analgesic self medication was
headache (59.7%) and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory
drugs (90%) were commonly used
analgesics .
Analgesics were used for quick relief (73.3%) and
source of information was from medical
textbooks (61.6%).
Students stopped taking
analgesics after symptoms disappeared (75%).
Students agreed that
self medication is acceptable for
medical students (63.3%) and medical
license is required for better
administration of
drugs (51.3%).
Conclusions: This study has found that
self medication with
analgesics was common among undergraduate
medical students for
minor illness. It is necessary to create
awareness and educate
students regarding dangers of
analgesic self medication .