A REVIEW ON SELF MEDICATION IN INDIAN POPULATION
Abstract
Self-medication, practiced globally is an important health problem especially in developing countries like India. Inappropriate self medication leads to adverse drug reaction, disease masking and inaccurate diagnosis of disease, increased morbidity and mortality, antibiotic resistance, drug interactions and wastage of health care resources. Fever, headache, pain and gastric problems are the main symptoms, Analgesics, antibiotics, antiulcer and cough suppressants are commonly used medicines. Gender difference, education, economical burden, time consumption and ease of convenience are the main factors effecting self-medication. In India prevalence of self medication is very high because, the wide range of medicine availability and higher rate of acceptability. Here we systematically review the existing literature on self medication to gain the recent information regarding the sample population, reactions, prevalence, reason for self medication, medication used and common indications.KEYWORDS: Self medication, disease masking, antibiotics, analgesics, prevalence
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