Evaluation of the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among first-year medical students.
OBJECTIVE
This study was undertaken to determine the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among first-year medical students of the Arabian Gulf University, Bahrain.


METHODS
This was an anonymous, questionnaire-based, descriptive study. A prevalidated questionnaire, containing open-ended and close-ended questions, was administered to the subjects. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 12 and the results expressed as counts and percentages.


RESULTS
Out of the 134 respondents, 43 (32.1%) were males and 91 (67.9%) were females; their mean age in years +/- SD was 18.01 +/- 0.78. The respondents' knowledge about appropriate self-medication was poor, but knowledge of the benefits and risks of self-medication was adequate. The respondents found self-medication to be time-saving, economical, convenient and providing quick relief in common illnesses. Important disadvantages of self-medication mentioned were the risk of making a wrong diagnosis, inappropriate drug use and adverse effects. The majority (76.9%) of the respondents had a positive attitude favoring self-medication. Self-medication was practiced by 44.8% of the subjects. The most common indications for self-medication were to relieve the symptoms of headache (70.9%), cough, cold and sore throat (53.7%), stomachache (32.8%) and fever (29.9%). Analgesics (81.3%) were the most common drugs used for self-medication. The practice of self-medication was appropriate in only 14.2% of cases.


CONCLUSIONS
Knowledge about appropriate self-medication was poor, attitude towards self-medication was positive, and the practice of self-medication was common and often inappropriate.
James
Henry
H
Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences, Arabian Gulf University, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain. DrHenryJames@hotmail.com
Handu
Shailendra S
SS
Al Khaja
Khalid A J
KA
Otoom
Sameer
S
Sequeira
Reginald P
RP
D000293:Adolescent; D001445:Bahrain; D004363:Drug Utilization; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012651:Self Medication; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*