COMPARISON OF SELF-MEDICATION AMONG RURAL POPULACE AND RURAL IMMIGRANTS IN AN URBAN CENTRE OF PAKISTAN
Mohammed Nabeel Pervez, Nouman Nathan, Prof. Fauzia Imtiaz* Shahzaib Khan, and Muhammad Rooban Siddiqui
ABSTRACT
Background: Self-medication refers to the treatment of diseases by oneself without consulting a qualified healthcare practitioner. It is good to some extent as it empowers patients in making decisions about management of minor illnesses and reduces burden on healthcare facilities.[1]Error! Reference source not found. At the other hand if limitations are breached excess and inappropriate use can be harmful. This survey is a contribution to this issue with a different aspect. Objective: The study intends to find if any connection exists between self-medication trends between two groups of people i.e. native rural and rural immigrants in an urban centre. Method: A cross sectional, self-administered, questionnaire based, randomized sampling study was conducted at a public tertiary care hospital in Karachi from June, 2016 to October, 2016.Then it was compared statistically. Results: Out of 388 respondents 60.6% were rural natives and 39.4% were rural immigrants. Gender was not a criteria for discrimination. 43.4% of rural individuals and 40.5% of rural immigrants answered poverty as the main reason of self-medication. More than 65% of rural populace and more than 58% of rural immigrants did not find it necessary to consult a doctor, which is alarming. Allopathic mode is the most preferable mode. 54.5% of rural population and 45.5% of rural immigrants alter the duration of their prescription. Conclusion: No difference could be found in self-medication rates between rural immigrants and rural natives. The groups differed in the aspects of mode, reason and duration of self-medication. They also differed on the issue of advising others on self-medication.
Keywords: self-medication, native rural, rural immigrant.
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