Investigation into self-medication of drugs for primary and adjunct therapy in psychiatric diseases among students in chittagong city of bangladesh: a comparison between medical and nonmedical students.

BACKGROUND: All kinds of drugs are available over the counter in Bangladesh. AIM: The objective of this study was to investigate the over the counter use of self medicated drugs for primary and adjunct therapy in psychiatric diseases among medical and nonmedical students. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 101 medical students and 186 nonmedical students were found, who used at least one of the nine drugs (believed as antipsychotics among nonmedical people) under survey within 6 months prior to survey date. The nine drugs used for survey were domperidone, sertraline, amitriptyline, midazolam, diazepam, prochlorperazine bromazepam, flupentixol-melitracen, and clonazepam. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Snowball sampling method was used. The symptoms, diseases, etc. of the students and the length of therapies they had followed for the respective drugs were noted. RESULTS: Among nonmedical students, several cases were found where drugs were being self medicated in wrong indications, for example, use of flupentixol melitracen and domperidone to treat headache. CONCLUSION: The nonmedical students chose the fast acting drugs having the strongest effects for self medication.

Medication taking behavior of students attending a private university in Bangladesh.

The objective of this study was to investigate the patterns of self-reported medication use, including both prescription and OTC drugs, and to assess the possible predictors of self-medication and medication non-compliance (non-adherence), for 929 non-medical undergraduate students of the American International University, a private university situated in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Although a high proportion (69%, n = 644) of students of this university had fallen sick in the last six months before the study, the rate of visiting qualified health practitioners was much lower (53%). A good proportion of the sick students were reported to have practiced self-medication (16%, n = 100) and medication non-adherence (15%, n = 98). The average treatment cost involved in self medication was much lower than that offered by a qualified physician (Tk 463 vs Tk 2546 per case). Those students living with parents were more likely to have visited qualified health practitioners (56%, p < .05), and students whose families kept a well-stocked medicine cabinet at home were more likely to have completed the full course (39%, p < .05) of prescribed medicine. No significant difference was found in the rates of self medication and medication compliance incidence for variables like age groups, gender, residence status, financial level, engagement in part-time jobs etc. The study also showed that antimicrobials are widely available (170 incidents) in the home medicine cabinets of the Dhaka City population. The storage of leftover antibiotics in the home constitutes an alternative potential source of self-medication that can have untoward consequences. Further elaborate studies are required to reveal the true pattern of antibiotic usage in Bangladesh.