A Comparative study on self medication practice between some urban and rural areas of Bangladesh

Abstract

Self medication practice is continuously increasing due to ignorance and to treat common diseases. This study was a community-based, cross-sectional survey carried out in some rural and urban area of Bangladesh, to explore self-medication behaviour among the general population, in which data was collected via direct interviews with respondents using a previously prepared questionnaire. This study investigated 530 respondents from different age groups. The majorities of respondents were male (81.51%) aged between 30-60 years, in which urban 82% & rural 81%. Most of them were married with secondary or academic level of education. The main reason for practicing self medication was simple disease & previous experience with the same condition followed by considering the current condition simple with no need to consult a physician. Retail pharmacies were revealed to be the commonest source of information about the self medicated drugs followed by previous Prescription and family members or friends. Pain was the commonest indication identified for self medication followed by headache, back or muscle pain, Common Cold, Fever, Gastritis, Allergy, Drugs used in treating these conditions were proton pump inhibitor, the commonest, followed by antibiotics, paracetamol, antihistamines, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, H2 Blockers and sedatives. This study illustrated that many Bangladeshi patients can easily practice self medication for the management of wide range of conditions whether it’s simple or not.