Self-medication practices among the patients attending outpatient department at JIPMER, Puducherry

Introduction: Illness or symptoms of an illness are a common human experience. Most of the signs and symptoms of an illness perceived or identified by the population are attended or treated by the ill people themselves. The most widely self-medicated substances are over-the-counter drugs used to treat common health issues at home, as well as dietary supplements. Aims: To assess the self-medication practices among patients attending Medicine OPD, JIPMER and to identify the association between practice of self-medication with selected demographic and clinical variables. Methods: A cross sectional descriptive survey method was conducted among 244 patients attending Medicine OPD, JIPMER, Puducherry for 3 days. In this study, structured self- administered questionnaire was used to collect the data. Results: Among the 147 patients taking self-medication, 67(45.57%) have taken self-medication for aches and pains and 57(38.77%) have used self-medication for more than one ailment. Among all participants 30(20.4%) have experienced side effects while taking self- medication and among them the most of them 12(40%) had nausea and vomiting and 13(43.3%) of them have stopped taking the medication following an adverse reaction. Conclusion: The study revealed that prevalence of self-medication was high among study population. Majority of respondents practiced self-medication for minor ailments and to get quick relief.