Prevalence of Self Medication with Antibiotics among Medical Students of Barabanki

Self-medication with antibiotics is becoming a common type of self-care behavior among the population of many countries. Many international studies have investigated the prevalence and nature of self medication practices at the population level. In India, some workers have also looked at the population prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics in general; however the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotic among medical undergraduates has been studied very less. The interest in studying this practice among this select group is due to the fact that they are the future prescribers and health educators of the nation.

(1) To estimate the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics among undergraduate medical students. (2) To know the factors associated with the practice of self-medication with antibiotics.

The study was a cross-sectional pre-tested questionnaire-based study carried out among medical students of Mayo Institute of Medical Sciences, Barabanki, Uttar Pradesh, in January 2018. The information from the returned questionnaire, was entered and analyzed using SPSS Version 16 statistical software and MS Exel.

A total of 147 medical students participated in the study, 17 questionnaire were found to be incomplete, hence 130 medical students were the study subjects. Among them majority were males (50.8%), the prevalence of self-medication with antibiotics came out to be 89.2%. Majority (61%) of the respondents found self medication was “convenient”. Azithromycin was the most popular (27%) antibiotic for self-medication, besides amoxicillin (23.4%) and fluoroquinolones (4.6%).

Self-medication with antibiotics is prevalent among medical undergraduates. There is a need for an intervention to address this practice.