Self-Medication Practices with Antibiotics among Second Year Medical Students of Government Medical College, Raigarh, Chhattisgarh

Background: Self medication practice especially using antibiotics has tremendously increased in the society that leads to unwanted consequences such as drug resistance. Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the self-medication practices with antibiotics among the second year medical students of Government Medical College, Raigarh. Materials & Methods: It was a questionnaire based descriptive study. A prevalidated questionnaire, which contained both open & close ended questions were given to the second year medical students. Data were analyzed using Excel sheet & results were expressed as counts and percentages. Results: Females outnumber males in this study, 27 versus 20. The most common indication for which self-medication was opted was fever with cough and cold. The information about the antibiotic was obtained from a past prescription from a physician. The most common antibiotic that was used by most of students was azithromycin. Conclusion: There was a high level of self-medication with antibiotics in our study, but this high level of self-prescription seen is also having some disadvantages, as improper duration of use might lead to development of resistance.