Browsing by Author "Laker, Paska"

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    Knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication among second year undergraduate medical students of Kampala International University Western Campus
    (Kampala International University, School of Allied Health Sciences, 2017-07) Laker, Paska
    Background: Self-medication particularly with analgesics and antibiotics has been widely reported leading the WHO to call attention to the dangers of self-medication as a cause of antibiotic resistance (Kamat VR and Nichter M., 1998; Abasaeed A et al, 2009; Sarahroodi S et al, 2010; Nalini GK, 2010; Calva J, 1996). In country like Uganda there is a wide range of drugs coupled with inadequate health service result in increased proportion of drug used as a self-medication compared to prescribed drugs (Sharma R, 2005). Assessment of knowledge and practice of self- medication is warranted especially in rural settings. Methods: This was an anonymous, questionnaire-based, descriptive study. Questionnaires containing closed ended questions were administered to 288 second year under graduate medical students. Data analysis was performed using STATA 14. Descriptive statistics were performed in terms of frequencies and percentages. Statistical significance was assessed at alpha of 0.05. Results: The research results indicated that the mean age was (24) and the majority of the students who participated in the study were male(63%). The prevalence of self-medication in my study was found to be markedly high (83.4%). The most important reason for self-medicating was that it is cheaper (91%) and the majority (92%) of the students reported that they self-medicated because of diarrhea/vomiting with antacids found to be the highly used class of drug (93%). The majority got the information through advertisements with (98%) and (92%) of the students buying medicine from drug shops. However, even though most of the students feared having the side effects of the medications since they are prescribing by themselves without any experience, so they would wish to visit a qualified medical practitioner for medical assistant when they get ill.