Global Scenario of Self Medication: A Review of Literature

Pranali Kulkarni, Anshul Garg, Abhishek Ajmera, Apurva Mahajan, Sonal Gadekar and Pushkar Kulkarni
Additional contact information
Pranali Kulkarni: Student, NMIMS, SPP, School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, Mumbai, India.
Anshul Garg: Faculty, NMIMS, SPP, School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, Mumbai, India.
Abhishek Ajmera: Student, NMIMS, SPP, School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, Mumbai, India, India.
Apurva Mahajan: Student, NMIMS, SPP, School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, Mumbai, India, India.
Sonal Gadekar: Student, NMIMS, SPP, School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, Mumbai, India, India.
Pushkar Kulkarni: Student, NMIMS, SPP, School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, Mumbai, India, India.

Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, 2018, vol. 09, issue 1, 99-107

Abstract: Self-medication can be defined as obtaining and consuming drugs without the advice of a physician for diagnosis, prescription or surveillance of treatment. Self-medication is widely practiced with varying dimensions in India and globally. A review of literaturewas conducted on various studies conducted in different geographies that focused on the practices of self-medication based on different factors like demography, gender, occupation, standard of living. To review the literature on self-medication practise globally and understand all the factors that isdirectly or indirectly related to the practice of self-medication.This paper helps in understanding various factors that affect self-medication practices like income, age, prior knowledge, education, occupation, gender, etc. Finally the study throws a light on practices of self-medication in India and in few other countries, explaining different causes, sources and reasons of self-medication. An extensive review of literature was undertaken in which 46 Studiesconducted on self-medication practices and factors affecting self-medication were selected for the review purpose. The most common ailments for which self-medication arepracticed are cold, fever and body & head ache. Analgesics, paracetamol and antibiotics are most prevalent drugs used for self-medication. The most common source of information regarding self-medication ispersonal experience and information from the credible source like chemist, friends and family. Information through commercial sourceslike health magazines and advertisements are not much relied on for self-medication. Also, the practice of self-medication is not related with the educational level of patients. Affordability, quick relief and less time consumption isthe main reasons forwhich self-medication arepracticed.

Keywords: Self-Medication; Self-Medication Practices; Global Scenario; OTC; Prescription drugs; Antibiotics; Literature Review. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://scholarshub.net/index.php/ijcms/article/view/92/86 (application/pdf)
http://scholarshub.net/index.php/ijcms/article/view/92 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aii:ijcmss:v:09:y:2018:i:1:p:99-107

DOI: 10.18843/ijcms/v9i1/14

Access Statistics for this article

Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies is currently edited by Dr. Arif Anjum

More articles in Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies from Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Mr. Asif Anjum ().