Prevelance of Self Medication with Pain Killers during COVID 19 Pandemic among Dental Students of Kashmir

Abstract

Introduction :Self medication may be defined as the practice of use of medication for the treatment of any disease on their own without consulting concerned health care professional. If the practice is not correctly done due to lack of knowledge in students pursuing medical studies without evaluation by the trained medical professionals it can lead to ineffective treatment which can result in unnecessary expenses and drug dependence over a period of time.

AIM: This study was conducted to find out self medication behaviour and its associated factors amongst dental students of Government Dental College and Hospital , Srinagar .

Materials and methodology: A cross sectional study was conducted on 100 dental students and interns  from Government Dental College And Hospital , Srinagar , Jammu and Kashmir between the month of September 2021 to November 2021 after ethical clearance was taken from said institution under order no GDC/Pedo/ 1677 . A convenience sampling technique was used and survey consisting of 11 questions was be distributed amongst the dental students which  included the questions of demographic variables and information related self medication with painkillers during the COVID times of 2020-2021 for any painful ailment and to evaluate awareness about side effects and loop holes of self medication. Data was collected and was statistically analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.

Results : Acetaminophen was the most commonly reported drug for self medication by significantly more number of subjects in the age group of >28 years, as compared to other age group and p value was 0.008. The reported frequency of analgesic self consumptionper month by dental students for any painful disease was ‘once per month’ and it was significantly less among 23-28 years age group as compared to other two age groups.

Conclusion:Over The Counter (OTC) drugs over the years is commonly used practice in developing countries where self medication is considered as an alternative for people who cannot afford expensive clinical service and acetoaminophen was most commonly used drug that was used unjudiciously. Self medication is a sensitive issue and more and more awareness needs to be given to the topic in oral health care professionals as well as general public.