A survey on Drug Purchased Without Prescription (Self-Prescription) by the Students of Pharmacy, East West University

Abstract

To estimate the prevalence of self-medication among the students of Pharmacy, East West University, Bangladesh and evaluate the factors associated with self-medication. A pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect data from 350 Pharmacy students of East West University, Bangladesh, using a convenient sampling technique. Prevalence of the practice of self-medication was estimated in number and percentages. All the respondents were aware of self-prescription and they had a knowledge of it. Among the 350 respondents, 60% were female and 40% were male pharmacy students. 99% of them had purchased medicine without prescription. Mostly they had purchased medicine for themselves (89%) or their parents (68%). About 57% purchased once in a month without prescription. But the percentage of health checkup was not fully satisfied. Most of them also faced adverse drug reaction. They mostly purchased omeprazole (83%) because they mostly suffered from acidity (90%). Knowledge about appropriate self-medication was poor, attitude towards self-medication was positive, and the practice of self-medication was common and often inappropriate because pharmacy students do not deal with diagnosis process.