Abstract
This Descriptive cross sectional study was to evaluate self and prescribed medication practices among rural community of Peshawar.
The study was conducted by Pakistan Health Research Council(PHRC), Research Centre, Khyber Medical (KMC) Peshawar from 5th
June to 30th November 2017in a defined rural community of District Peshawar. A digital questionnaire based on self and prescribed
medications was prepared and uploaded into Open Data Kit (ODK) Collect Software in android tablets. Questionnaire was based on
different question regarding socio-demographic, self and prescribed medication practices.
Among 310 respondents it was found that 44.2% were practicing both self and prescribed medication while 30.6% used to practice
self-medication only. Minor illnesses like fever (89.9%) and pains (83.6%) were treated by self-medication. In case of chronic
patients, they practiced prescribed medication rather than self-medication. Majority of the non-prescribed medicines were pain
killers (92.8%) and fever relieving medicines (81.3%). According to 24.6% of the participants, chemists were the source of
information for self-medication. Similarly, 51.6% respondents purchased medicines from nearest pharmacy/ chemist shop for selfmedication. As regard the dosage of antibiotics and medicine 95% of those who practiced self-medication acquired information
from family members and friends. More than half (53.2%) of the study subjects were in the favor of practicing self-medication.
The results show that majority of the participants were practicing self-medication. Low cost, quick relief, lack of access to health
facility and most importantly ignorance from the side effects of self-medication might be the possible reasons in rural setting.
Ambreen Arif, Obaid Ullah, Israr Ahmad, Arif Mehmood Khan, Aftab Khan. (2019) Assessment of Self and prescribed medication practices in rural community of Peshawar, Pakistan, Isra Medical Journal, Volume 11, Issue 5.
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