Assessment of Self-Medication Practices and its Associated Factors Among Undergraduate Students of Private Medical Colleges in Lahore

Abstract

This research examined beliefs and behaviors along with related factors concerning the usage of drugs to self-diagnose among scholars in healthcare disciplines. The use of drugs is a frequent yet potentially hazardous behavior, particularly among aspiring healthcare practitioners. This study aimed to evaluate usage of drugs among undergraduates, examining their knowledge and reasons for this behavior, as well as identifying factors associated with self-medication among students. In this study descriptive observational study research was carried out at Shalimar and Akhtar Saeed Dental and Medical College. The information was gathered from 245 students through a survey. The collected data were examined using SPSS software utilizing frequency distribution table’s percentages and for inferential the chi-square statistical test to be used. In terms of prevalence, self-medication was found to be practiced by 77.6% of the participants. The most frequently cited reason for this practice was the use of an old prescription, reported by 39.6% of the students (97 participants). 55.1% of participants 135 participants had a low attitude level, which suggests that they were uneducated about self-medication. While only 3.3% (8 participants) had a negative attitude, whereas 41.6% (102 participants) demonstrated a good attitude. Studies have demonstrated a significant association between self-medication practices and most demographic factors, as well as self-medication awareness. In this research reveals a considerable occurrence of self- medication among medical students a habit that carries notable dangers of their future responsibilities as healthcare professionals primarily driven by ease and previous prescriptions statistical analysis revealed significant connections between self-medication practices and various demographic and knowledge- related aspects these findings highlight the critical necessity for educational initiatives and special controls on medication use by the medical students to mitigate the dangers linked to unsupervised self-treatment.