Over-the-counter (OTC) drug usage and perceived health status among professionals

Today three out of every five people report having taken at least one OTC drug in the past 6 months (NCPIE Jan 2012). However self medication is far from being a completely safe practice, particularly in the case of non-responsible self-medication.

1. Asses OTC drug usage among various professionals. 2. Compare OTC drug usages among various professionals.

Descriptive design and survey approach was adapted for the study. Convenient sampling technique was adapted with 500 sample size from various professions like health care workers, airport authorities, IT professionals and home makers. A semistructured questionnaire was used to survey the samples. The information pertaining to the pattern of OTC drugs use, reason and indication for OTC use, list of drugs commonly used were included in the questionnaire.

51% of the samples belong to 21–40 years of age, 69% of the samples were females, 31% of them are healthcare professionals. Regarding the drug purchase, 22% of the samples purchased analgesics and 6% purchased antibiotics. An alarming 67% of the antibiotic purchase was by healthcare workers. 80% of the participants purchased OTC drugs as they were living within 5kms distance from a health facility. With regard to their health status 36% of the samples perceived that they are doing well.