Comparison of self-medication practices with analgesics among undergraduate medical and paramedical students of a tertiary care teaching institute in Central India – A questionnaire-based study

CONTEXT: Inappropriate self-medication can increase chances of adverse drug reactions, disease aggravation, or drug interactions. Analgesics are most commonly used as self-medication. AIMS: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare analgesic self-medication practices among medical and paramedical undergraduate students of a tertiary care teaching institute in Central India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted in 216 undergraduate medical (MBBS and BDS) and paramedical (occupational therapy/physiotherapy and BSc nursing) students. A predesigned, self-developed, semi-structured questionnaire was used. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The Chi-square test was used for testing statistical significance. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of self-medication with analgesics was 83.33%. Self-medication was significantly high among medical students as compared to paramedical students (P = 0.003). Significantly more medical students were aware about adverse drug reactions of analgesics as compared to paramedical students (P = 0.019). The most common source of information about drugs was previous prescription (58.33%), followed by media including the Internet (53.70%). The most dominant symptom compelling self-medication was found to be muscular pain (42.12%), followed by headache (36.57%). 54.16% of the students revealed that self-medication provides quick relief from pain. The most commonly used analgesic was paracetamol (82.40%), followed by diclofenac (22.68%). A significant number of paramedical students do not know exactly what precautions should be taken while taking analgesics (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: Medical students are more indulged in self-medication practices with analgesics. Paramedical students need to be educated regarding safe use of analgesics.