Prevalence of using non prescribed medications in economically deprived rural population of Pakistan
Categorie(s):
Health
Author(s):
Abdul Haseeb and Muhammad Bilal*
Keyword(s):
Self medication, Economically deprived, Rural population, Prevalence, Outpatient department
DOI:
Abstract :
Background: Self medication is described as an act of procurement and consumption of medical drugs without
the advice of medical physician for diagnosis, prescription and surveillance of treatment. There is a paucity of
literature with regards to self medication among rural dwellers of Pakistan and no initiatives have been taken to
resolve this issue. Therefore, the study aimed to evaluate frequency, practice and prevalence of self medication
among economically deprived rural population of Karachi (South Pakistan).
Methods: This was the descriptive, epidemiological cross sectional survey which was conducted at the two largest
tertiary care government based teaching hospitals of Karachi, Civil hospital and Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre,
from January 2015 until March 2015. Seven hundred rural dwellers were recruited; who were the residents of
outskirts of Karachi city were enrolled in the above mentioned period through the outpatient department (OPD) of
the respective hospitals.
Results: According to the survey, 595 (85 %) subjects practiced self medication. The most common reasons
evaluated for self medication were cost of consultation (90.3 %) and availability of transport (81.0 %) from rural area
to health care facility. The paracetamol as a painkiller (93.0 %), acetylsalicylic acid as an anti pyretic (69.0 %), anti
biotic (52.0 %) and anti allergic (51.0 %) were the commonest drug used without prescription of a health care physician. A
significant difference was obtained in carrying out self medication between participants earning less than 50,000 PKR and
greater than this amount (p = 0.029; 61 % vs. 24 %) and for the self medicated patients having education less than
graduation with the participants having education of graduation or above it (p = 0.03; 63 % vs. 22 %).
Conclusion: The self medication among rural dwellers of Karachi is high . As a result, urgent steps must be taken to
initiate the awareness and educational programs regarding potential risks of self medication. Secondly, strict measures
must be introduced to stop supply of prescription drugs from pharmacies without prescription. Thirdly, provision of cost
effective treatment from public sector hospitals to rural population can help to reduce self medication among rural
population of Pakistan.