SELF-MEDICATION PRACTICE AND RELATED KNOWLEDGE AMONG STUDENTS OF SELECTED NURSING INSTITUTIONS, ERNAKULAM

Study to assess the self-medication practice and related knowledge among nursing students was conducted among 200 subjects using descriptive design. Subjects were selected through stratified random sampling technique from five selected nursing institutions at Ernakulam district of Kerala, India and prevalidated semistructured questionnaire related to various aspects of self-medication was used for data collection. The data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Self-medication was reported among 63 % of the nursing students. The respondents who used self-medication found it to be using for minor ailments. The most common ailments for which self-medication was practiced include fever (58%) and pain (40%). Antipyretics (72%), analgesics (48%) and antacids (28%) were the most common self-medication medicines used. Of the respondents, 3 % experienced adverse reactions as a result of self-medication practice. The present study reports that the prevalence of self-medication among nursing students was high and a significant number of students are unaware of the adverse effects of the medication that they themselves take and suggest to others. Therefore, potential problems of self-medication should be emphasized to the students