Self-medication with antimicrobials in children: a study in tertiary care hospital, Odisha, India
Open accessAbstract
Background: Antimicrobial resistance is emerging as global threat to health, the injudicious use being linked to multiple reasons namely parental misconceptions, easy drug availability and previous experiences. Children, due to frequent illnesses, are victims of this misuse and more than fifty percent of these drugs are self-medicated by caregivers. This study attempts to assess the trends associated with self-medication with antimicrobials in children and the factors associated with it.Methods: This is a hospital based cross-sectional study, among pediatric outpatients aged 1 month to 14 years, in SCBMCH and SVPPGIP, Cuttack, during March 2019 to September 2019. A structured dichotomous questionnaire was administered to caregivers, including details of socio-demography and antimicrobials self-medicated. A pilot study was done for period of 1 month, and questionnaire accordingly modified. Data was analysed with Chi- square test and percentages, using SPSS 18.Results: Among the 300 patients studied, prevalence of self-medication with antimicrobials was 21%. Most patients self-medicated on pharmacists’ advice (44.4%), commonest reason being similar illness previously (41.3%). Fever (31.7%) and cold cough (28.6%) were usual conditions, with Azithromycin being most frequently administered. 54% of cases self-medicating antimicrobials, had errors of dose or duration, with 27% reporting side-effects. Child’s age (p=0.042), father’s age (p=0.044), mother’s age (p=0.002), chronic illness in child (p=0.002) and type of family (p=0.011) were significantly associated with antimicrobial self-medication in children.Conclusions: The high prevalence of self-medication with antimicrobials mandates need to educate parents and enforce laws regarding illegal dispensing of these drugs, to reduce the threat from resistance.
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.
Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
A study by Ganguly et al. in 2020 focusing on pediatric populations in tertiary care hospitals found similar patterns of self-medication with antibiotics, emphasizing the risk of inappropriate antibiotic use in vulnerable groups.
“Furthermore, a study by Ganguly et al. in 2020 focusing on pediatric populations in tertiary care hospitals found similar patterns of SMAs, emphasizing the risk of inappropriate antibiotic use in vulnerable groups [15].”
From Understanding Antimicrobial Self-Medication Practices in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India (2025) · cites this paper as [15]
Self-check
Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.
The self-check needs the paper’s full text.
Cites
Gold, H. S., & Moellering, R. C. (1996) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm199611073351907 · Cited by 1,080 · see citing works
Self-medication with Antimicrobial Drugs in Europe
Grigoryan, L., Haaijer‐Ruskamp, F. M., Burgerhof, J. G. M., Mechtler, R., Deschepper, R., Tambić-Andrašević, A., Andrajati, R., Monnet, D. L., Cunney, R., Matteo, A. D., et al. (2006) · Emerging infectious diseases · doi:10.3201/eid1203.050992 · Cited by 588 · see citing works
Self-Medication with Antibiotics in Jordanian Population
Al-Azzam, S. I., Al-Husein, B. A., Alzoubi, F., Masadeh, M. M., & Al-Horani, M. (2007) · International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health · doi:10.2478/v10001-007-0038-9 · Cited by 266 · see citing works
Donkor, E. S., Tetteh-Quarcoo, P. B., Nartey, P., & Agyeman, I. O. (2012) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph9103519 · Cited by 225 · cited 1× · see citing works
“The inevitable consumption of the same, apart from leading to emergence of resistant strains of the microorganisms responsible for most of the infections in childhood, that were once easily treatable, has additional hazardous consequences namely adverse drug reactions, mistreatment of the original disease or missed di…”
BackgroundYu, M., Zhao, G., Lundborg, C. S., Zhu, Y., Zhao, Q., & Xu, B. (2014) · BMC Infectious Diseases · doi:10.1186/1471-2334-14-112 · Cited by 212 · see citing works
Survey of non-prescribed use of antibiotics for children in an urban community in Mongolia
Togoobaatar, G., Ikeda, N., Ali, M., Sonomjamts, M., Dashdemberel, S., Mori, R., & Shibuya, K. (2010) · Bulletin of the World Health Organization · doi:10.2471/blt.10.079004 · Cited by 199 · cited 8× · see citing works
“Our study supports the studies done in UAE, Mongolia and USA, where a similar opinion existed.(10,14,19) Also, in this study, among those parents who self-medicated on basis of previous similar experience, 69.”
BackgroundResultInfluentialSelf-medication with antibiotics by the community of Abu Dhabi Emirate, United Arab Emirates
Abasaeed, A., Vlček, J., Abuelkhair, M., & Kuběna, A. A. (2009) · The Journal of Infection in Developing Countries · doi:10.3855/jidc.466 · Cited by 192 · see citing works
Family self-medication and antibiotics abuse for children and juveniles in a Chinese city
Bi, P., Tong, S., & Parton, K. A. (2000) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(99)00304-4 · Cited by 162 · see citing works
Saradamma, R. D., Higginbotham, N. H., & Nichter, M. (2000) · Social Science & Medicine · doi:10.1016/s0277-9536(99)00380-9 · Cited by 146 · see citing works
Mitsi, G., Jelastopulu, E., Basiaris, H., et al. (2005) · International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents · doi:10.1016/j.ijantimicag.2005.02.009 · Cited by 142 · see citing works
Slama, T. G., Amin, A. J., Brunton, S., File, T. M., Milkovich, G., Rodvold, K. A., Sahm, D. F., Varón, J., & Weiland, D. A. (2005) · The American Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1016/j.amjmed.2005.05.007 · Cited by 114 · see citing works
Antibiotic resistance – The faceless threat
Cars, O., & Nordberg, P. (2005) · International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine · doi:10.3233/jrs-2005-347 · Cited by 111 · see citing works
Parimi, N., Pereira, L. M. P., & Prabhakar, P. (2004) · BMC Family Practice · doi:10.1186/1471-2296-5-28 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Assessment of self-medication practices in Assendabo town, Jimma zone, southwestern Ethiopia
Suleman, S., Ketsela, A., & Mekonnen, Z. A. (2008) · Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy · doi:10.1016/j.sapharm.2008.04.002 · Cited by 86 · see citing works
Self-medication with Antibiotic in Children in Sana’a City, Yemen
Mohanna, M. A. B. (2010) · Oman Medical Journal · doi:10.5001/omj.2010.10 · Cited by 78 · see citing works
Sun, C., Hu, Y. J., Wang, X., Lu, J., Lin, L. K., & Zhou, X. (2019) · BMJ Open · doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2019-033679 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Chang, J., Lv, B., Zhu, S., Yu, J., Zhang, Y., Ye, D., Aziz, M. M., Yang, C., & Fang, Y. (2018) · Expert Review of Anti-infective Therapy · doi:10.1080/14787210.2018.1425616 · Cited by 57 · see citing works
Self-Medication Trends in Children by Their Parents
Gohar, U. F., Khubaib, S., & Mehmood, A. (2017) · Journal of Developing Drugs · doi:10.4172/2329-6631.1000173 · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Parental Knowledge About Common Respiratory Infections and Antibiotic Therapy in Children
Collett, C., Pappas, D. E., Evans, B. A., & Hayden, G. F. (1999) · Southern Medical Journal · doi:10.1097/00007611-199910000-00006 · Cited by 34 · see citing works
Alili-Idrizi, E., Dauti, M. B., & Malaj, L. (2014) · Pharmacy Practice · doi:10.4321/s1886-36552014000400003 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Panagakou, S. G., Papaevangelou, V., Hadjipanayis, A., et al. (2012) · ISRN Pediatrics · doi:10.5402/2012/685302 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Trends of Pediatric Outpatients Prescribing in Umm Al Quwain, United Arab Emirates
Sharif, S. I., Nassar, A. H., Al-Hamami, F. K., Hassanein, M. M., Elmi, A. H., & Sharif, R. S. (2015) · Pharmacology & Pharmacy · doi:10.4236/pp.2015.61002 · Cited by 23 · see citing works
A descriptive cross sectional study on mothers self-medicating children
Kariyawasam, S., Nanayakkara, D., Mohottiarachchi, M., et al. (2009) · Sri Lanka Journal of Child Health · doi:10.4038/sljch.v34i1.563 · Cited by 16 · see citing works
Parents' knowledge and attitude to self-medication of children with antibiotics
Sharif, S., Masalmeh, B. M., Osama, A., Bugaighis, L. M. T., Abdulmqasood, Y. A., & Awad, H. A. (2015) · Archives of Pharmacy Practice · doi:10.4103/2045-080x.166592 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Self-medication with antibiotics : Practices among Pakistani students in Sweden and Finland
Khan, R. A. (2011) · KTH Publication Database DiVA (KTH Royal Institute of Technology) · Cited by 9 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Bulario JS, Cruz ILP, Pilapil MC, Gutierrez MM. Factors Associated with Parental Self-medication of Antibiotics in Health Centers of Manila in 4th International Research Conference on Higher Education, KnE Social Sciences. 2018:891-910.
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Understanding Antimicrobial Self-Medication Practices in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in India
Sridhar, Y., Anand, A., Sethuraman, A., & Hossain, S. (2025) · Cureus · doi:10.7759/cureus.80473 · Cited by 1 · see citing works
“Furthermore, a study by Ganguly et al. in 2020 focusing on pediatric populations in tertiary care hospitals found similar patterns of SMAs, emphasizing the risk of inappropriate antibiotic use in vulnerable groups [15].”
- Authors
- Ganguly, S., Pankaj, K. C., & Satpathy, S. K.
- Affiliations
- Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College Hospital (IN)
- Venue
- International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics
- Publisher
- Medip Academy
- Published
- 2020-04-24
- Volume
- 7
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 1110
- ISSN
- 2349-3283 (ISSN-L)
- 2349-3291
- OpenAlex
- W3019231825
- Cited by
- 3
- References
- 25
- Citations by year
- 2025: 1 · 2024: 2
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- diamond
- doi.org
- Locations
- International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology › Antibiotic Use and Resistance
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmacology › Pharmacy and Medical Practices
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Pharmaceutical studies and practices
- Keywords
- children, antimicrobial resistance, caregivers, azithromycin, fever, cough and cold, parental misconceptions, risk factors, parental education, family structure, children with chronic illness
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
