The practice of self-medication among Pakistani university students

Self-medication refers to the selection and use of medicines without prescription by an individuals' personal responsibility as a cure of self-identified disease. although its rationale,type and extent may different from culture to culture,it is globally prevalent practice. in pakistan no research is available on the use of self-medication among university students. the existing study was conducted to investigate the frequency and percentages of branded medicines used by university students,reasons and rationale behind self-medication. it was a survey research design and descriptive statistics were collected regarding the use of self- medication. hence,a sample of 300 students was employed between the age range of 16-25 years (m = 20.23,sd = 2. 76). the respondents filled a questionnaire regarding socio-economic and demographic variables,use of self-medication,and medication knowledge. information was obtained on the conditions treated with medication,the medications used,and attitude towards self-medication. results indicated mostly used type of self-medication was allopathic (f = 230,77%). headache was found to be more frequently prevalent disease. most frequently used medicine was disprin (m = 49.68,sd = 15. 14) as a cure of headaches and other body pains. financial problems (f = 90,30%) left over drugs (f = 46,15%) and easy accessibility (f =38,12.7%) were found to be the strongest factors in using self-medication. moreover significant differences appeared in the use of type of medicines between boys and girls. the study concluded that self-medication is widely used practice among university students in pakistan.