TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF ANTIBIOTICS USED AS SELF MEDICATED DRUG IN THE COMMUNITY

Back ground: Self-medication is the use of medication by individuals without the prescription of any health care professionals to treat self-recognized illness and symptoms. Self-medication with antibiotics is a major factor contributing to the development of bacterial antibiotic resistance. Objectives: The objectives of the study are to estimate the prevalence of self-medication of antibiotics and the reasons for self-medication. Methodology: This is a prospective community-based study carried out for a time period of 6 months. The study included 578 participants from different areas of Bangalore, Karnataka and the data were collected with a structured questionnaire. Results: Out of 578 samples obtained the prevalence of self-medication of antibiotics is high in males (50.95%) when compared to females (49.05%). The age group between 15-25 showed higher use of self-medicated antibiotics (86.16%). Amoxicillin (42.88%) was the most commonly used antibiotic and the most common disease for which antibiotic was taken is fever (37.31%). Out of 578 participants, 190 had taken antibiotics for 3 days (32.87%). Source of information for the use of antibiotics were pharmacy (46.99%), family/friend (28.22%) and internet (16.44). Nausea/vomiting was observed to be the commonly experienced side effect (48.41%). Conclusion: Our study gives an overview of the effect on self-medication of antibiotics. The level of self-medicating antibiotics is relatively high among participants. Health education on appropriate use of antibiotics is necessary. Keywords: Self-medication, antibiotics, nausea/vomiting, antibiotic resistance, amoxicillin