Prevalence of self-medication in rural area of Andhra Pradesh
Open accessAbstract
Background: The consumption of medicine without consulting a doctor is called self-medication. In the recent decade, the prevalence of self-medication was increased mainly in the developing countries. The reason varies from the nonavailability of doctors to economical reason. But people are not aware of the side effects and interactions of drugs. This is risky behavior and may lead to death. The objective of this study is to find out the prevalence and various reasons, sources, and common drugs used for self-medication. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional community-based study conducted in Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh. 166 houses were selected by using a simple random sampling method. One respondent from one household was interviewed by using a semi-structured questionnaire. The data obtained were analyzed by using SPSS V22. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were applied to find associations. Phi, Cramer Rao V, and contingency coefficient were applied to find the strength of association. A value of P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Among 166 subjects, the majority (58.4%) of participants were in the age group between 18-30 and most of them were female 142 (85.5%). The prevalence of self-medication was 68.1%. The main source of self-medication was directly from the pharmacy, that is, pharmacists (72.6%). Analgesics were commonly (85%) self-medicated drug. The main indication for self-medication was headache (78.8%) and fever (66.4%). Conclusion: The prevalence of self-medication was high and which is hazardous to health. This needs prompt legislative action.
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Friends, relatives, and family members may offer advice on self-medication based on personal experiences or beliefs.
“Friends, relatives, and family members may offer advice based on personal experiences or beliefs,32,33”
From Prevalence and patterns of self-medication practices in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [32]
The Results report friends and relatives as a source of self-medication, and the Discussion says other studies identified friends and family as sources of information. The Introduction separately mentions advice from an older person and self-medication based on previous personal experience, but the paper does not say that friends’ or family members’ advice is based on their own experiences or beliefs. (LLM, conf=0.84)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredIndividuals rely on various sources for information on self-medication, including pharmacists, friends, family members, relatives, previous prescriptions, and their knowledge of medicines.
“Individuals rely on various sources for information on self-medication, including pharmacists, friends, family members, relatives, previous prescriptions, and their knowledge of medicines.”
From Prevalence and patterns of self-medication practices in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis (2025) · cites this paper as [32]
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Prevalence and patterns of self-medication practices in India: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Chaudhary, V., Kumari, S., Sharma, B., Ahuja, C., Kishore, H., & Pal, B. (2025) · Medical Journal Armed Forces India · doi:10.1016/j.mjafi.2024.11.008 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bhaisare, R., Rangari, G., Korukonda, V., Chaitanya, Y., & Hanumanth, N.
- Venue
- Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care
- Published
- 2020
- Volume
- 9
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 2891
- ISSN
- 2249-4863 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7491850
- OpenAlex
- W3040231656
- Cited by
- 35
- References
- 1
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 2
- FWCI
- 2.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by-nc-sa
- Locations
- Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- 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 › Complementary and alternative medicine › Complementary and Alternative Medicine Studies
- Keywords
- self-medication, prevalence, rural population, analgesics, headache, fever, adverse drug reactions, Visakhapatnam district, Andhra Pradesh
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