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Cited by 119Antibiotic Use and ResistancePharmacy and Medical PracticesPharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes

Prevalence, Pattern, and Reasons for Self-Medication: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study From Central India

Open access
Rathod, Pragati, Sharma, Sarita, Ukey, Ujwala, Sonpimpale, Bhagyashri, Ughade, Suresh, Narlawar, Uday, Gaikwad, Sanju, Nair, Parvati +2 more·2023·Cureus
DOI 10.7759/cureus.33917PMC PMC9936784
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Abstract

Introduction Self-medication is an important public health problem, with varied prevalence across the world. The high prevalence of self-medication in India is one of the important factors contributing to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Self-medication without medical guidance can lead to inappropriate, incorrect, or undue therapy, missed diagnosis, delays in appropriate treatment, pathogen resistance, and increased morbidity. The growing trend of self-medication can be attributed to various factors like the urge for self-care, sympathy toward sick family members, inaccessible health services and nonavailability of drugs, time and financial constraints, ignorance, misbeliefs, extensive advertisement and availability of drugs in places other than drug shops. Methodology The present community-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in an urban field practice area of a tertiary health care center (UHTC) in Central India. Individuals above 18 years of age and present at home at the time of the house-to-house survey comprised the study participants. A total of 400 participants were enrolled in the study. Data were collected using a predesigned and pretested questionnaire by the face-to-face interview technique. Results The prevalence of self-medication in the area was 60 % (240). The most widely used drugs for self-medication were analgesics (159; 66.25%) and antipyretics (142; 59.16%). Common ailments for which self-medication was used frequently were fever, body aches, common cold, and cough. It was observed that female participants were twice more likely to self-medicate as compared to male participants (Odds Ratio (OR): 2.04; Prevalence (p) = 0.014, Confidence Interval (CI) 95% = 1.15-3.62). Additionally, those having education above the high school level had more chances of self-medicating than those educated less than high school (OR: 1.25; p≤0.014, CI 95%=1.05-1.50). The commonest reasons for resorting to self-medication as per the findings of the present study are that it saves time and the condition was not serious enough to warrant a physician's consultation.

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  • Regional disparities in pediatric ASM within India may be attributed to varying healthcare infrastructure, socioeconomic conditions, and cultural factors.

    “These variations may be attributed to varying healthcare infrastructure, socioeconomic conditions, and cultural factors [42, 43].”

    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 [43]

    The Discussion (page not provided) suggests that variation in self-medication prevalence may reflect sociocultural factors, while the Introduction (page not provided) identifies region-specific socioeconomic factors and access to health services. The study surveyed adults in one Central Indian community; it does not establish that these factors explain regional disparities in pediatric self-medication within India. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  • The ease of accessing antibiotics without a prescription in India significantly contributes to the high prevalence of self-medication.

    “The ease of accessing antibiotics without a prescription in India significantly contributes to the high prevalence of self-medication [43, 44].”

    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 [43]

    The Introduction says self-medication is widespread in India, where over-the-counter drugs are relatively easy to access, and identifies easy drug access as one possible contributing factor. It does not establish that nonprescription access to antibiotics specifically makes a significant contribution. The Discussion also says the study’s cross-sectional design precludes causal inferences. (LLM, conf=0.87)

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  1. [4]Gastroesophageal reflux in the French general population: national survey of 8000 adults Presse Méd Bretagne JF Richard-Molard B Honnorat C Caekaert A Barthélemy P 23 31 1 2006 16462660
  2. [8]‘Self-care’ as healing behaviour: a study from urban slum and surrounding non-slum areas of North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal Semantic Scholar Basu C Semantic scholar 2018 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/%E2%80%98Self-Care%E2%80%99-as-Healing-Behaviour%3A-A-Study-from-Slum-Basu/b0c154619a26c4131b55294e1e24bec9bc24e52f
  3. [14]Prevalence and pattern of self medication use in coastal regions of South India British Journal of General Practitioners Balamurugan E Ganesh K 428 431 4 2011 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Bala-Murugan-10/publication/331645562_Prevalence_and_Pattern_of_Self_Medication_use_in_coastal_regions_of_South_India/links/5c85f1c6458515831f9aae83/Prevalence-and-Pattern-of-Self-Medication-use-in-coastal-regions-of-South-India.pdf
  4. [22]Social, cultural and economic factors associated with self-medication Biomedica Machado-Alba JE Echeverri-Cataño LF Londoño-Builes MJ Moreno-Gutiérrez PA Ochoa-Orozco SA Ruiz-Villa JO 580 588 34 2014 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25504247/ 25504247
  5. [30]Prevalence and pattern of self-medication practices in rural area of Barabanki Indian J Med Res Keshari SS Kesarwani P Sengar MM 636 639 25 2014 https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mili-Mishra-Sengar/publication/273757450_Prevalence_and_Pattern_of_Self-medication_Practices_in_Rural_Area_of_Barabanki/links/550aadbb0cf2855640950c83/Prevalence-and-Pattern-of-Self-medication-Practices-in-Rural-Area-of-Barabanki.pdf

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Authors
Rathod, P., Sharma, S., Ukey, U., Sonpimpale, B., Ughade, S., Narlawar, U., Gaikwad, S., Nair, P., Masram, P., & Pandey, S.
Affiliations
Government Medical College (IN)
Corresponding author
Sharma, Sarita
ORCID
Venue
Cureus
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2023-01-18
Volume
15
Issue
1
Pages
e33917-e33917
ISSN
2168-8184 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.7759/cureus.33917
PMC
PMC9936784
OpenAlex
W4317211576
Cited by
101
References
26
Citations by year
2026: 18 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 5
FWCI
19.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Cureus (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (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 › Geriatrics and Gerontology › Pharmaceutical Practices and Patient Outcomes
Keywords
self-medication, prevalence, analgesics, antipyretics, antimicrobial resistance, reasons for self-medication, gender differences, educational attainment, common cold, fever, urban communities, Central India

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