Assessment of parents induced self-medication in paediatric population in rural and urban areas of Ahmedabad, Gujarat
Open accessAbstract
Background: Self-medication is termed as administration of medications by care-givers without medical consultation. It includes several forms through which the individual themselves or the ones responsible for them decide, without medical evaluation, which drug they will use and in which way for the symptomatic relief and cure of a condition. Objectives of the study was to estimate the overall prevalence of parents induced self-medication, to identify the most commonly used drugs and the reasons of self-medications in rural and urban areas of Ahmedabad, Gujarat.Methods: This is community based observational cross sectional study was conducted over a period of four months in urban and rural areas of district Ahmedabad under the field practice area of AMC MET Medical College and Sheth LG General Hospital, district Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The study population included children from 5-15 years. The data was collected from the care giver/parents of the children through a pre-validated questionnaire.Results: Prevalence of self-medication was 86.14%. Most common illness for which self- medication was done was fever in 84 children (22.16%) followed by acidity in 72 children (18.99%). Commonly used drugs were antipyretics, antibiotics and oral rehydration therapy. Previous prescription was used by most of them to procure the drugs and previous experience on efficacy was the most common reason cited.Conclusions: In this study, the prevalence of parents induced self-medication is quite high. There is a need to strengthen public education regarding self- medication, by mass media and local government authorities.
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Low and middle-income families often resort to self-medication as a cost-saving measure primarily due to financial constraints.
“Low and middle-income families often resort to self-medication as a cost-saving measure. This cost-driven decision is significant and is primarily due to the financial constraints faced by these families [6, 18, 26, 33].”
From Prevalence and associated factors of self-medication with antibiotics among pediatric population in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [33]
The Discussion says self-medication is a cheap alternative for people who cannot afford medical practitioners and was most prevalent among lower-middle and low socioeconomic groups in this Ahmedabad study. But the Results identify an old prescription or medicines already at home—not financial constraints—as the most commonly reported reason (37.20%); high consultation fees were reported by 17.15%. The claim overstates finances as the primary reason and generalizes beyond parents self-medicating children in this study. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredLack of time and urgency influence caregivers' decision to engage in pediatric ASM.
“The lack of time and urgency influence the decision of caregivers to engage in such practices [6, 15–17, 19, 26, 29, 31–33].”
From Prevalence and associated factors of self-medication with antibiotics among pediatric population in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [33]
The Results (Table 2; page not specified in our copy) list saving time among caregivers’ reasons for self-medicating children. They do not identify urgency as a reason. The Conclusion’s reference to an “urgent need” concerns public education, not caregivers’ decisions. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe effectiveness of specific medicines based on previous experiences significantly influences caregivers' choices regarding pediatric ASM.
“The effectiveness of specific medicines based on previous experiences significantly influences caregivers’ choices [16, 17, 19, 28, 33].”
From Prevalence and associated factors of self-medication with antibiotics among pediatric population in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [33]
The Results (p. 779) report that previous experience with drugs used for the illness influenced brand selection for 31 parents (8.18%). They do not establish that perceived effectiveness was the reason for those choices or that its influence was significant; an old prescription was the leading factor (63.06%). (LLM, conf=0.87)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe easy availability of antibiotics from local pharmacies or the presence of leftover antibiotics contributes to pediatric self-medication.
“The easy availability of antibiotics from local pharmacies or the presence of leftover antibiotics further contributes to the practice of self-medication [16, 17, 26, 32, 33].”
From Prevalence and associated factors of self-medication with antibiotics among pediatric population in India: a systematic review and meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [33]
The Results report that pharmacies were the most common source of medicines used for pediatric self-medication, and that old prescriptions and medicines already available to family members were reasons for the practice. The Results also report antibiotic use, but do not establish that the pharmacy-sourced or already available medicines were antibiotics specifically. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Atem, T. D., Singh, R., Newbury-Birch, D., Pal, B., & Chaudhary, V. (2025) · BMC Pediatrics · doi:10.1186/s12887-025-05676-8 · Cited by 8 · see citing works
- Authors
- Patel, S. J., & Dumra, G. H.
- Affiliations
- Narendra Modi Medical College (IN)
- Venue
- International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology
- Publisher
- Medip Academy
- Published
- 2020-04-23
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 776
- ISSN
- 2279-0780 (ISSN-L)
- 2319-2003
- OpenAlex
- W3019773402
- Cited by
- 6
- References
- 17
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 0.22
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmacy and Medical Practices
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology › Antibiotic Use and Resistance
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pharmaceutical studies and practices
- Keywords
- self-medication, parental self-medication, prevalence, fever, acidity, antipyretics, antibiotics, oral rehydration therapy, urban-rural differences, Ahmedabad
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