Prevalence of Self-Medication Practices among Population of Dehradun, Uttarakhand

A Quantitative, cross sectional survey design was used to determine the prevalence of self-medication practices among 259 adults of randomly selected villages of Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of self-medication and to find the association with their selected demographic variables among study participants. The data was collected through pretested Self-Reported questionnaire, and demographic profile. The setting was selected through simple random sampling. The study samples were selected through convenient sampling technique. Major findings of the study revealed that most of study participants 83% were taking drugs without prescription. Most participants 70% were between the age group of 18-45years. Majority of them 97% had formal education. Females exhibited higher prevalence 66% of self medication than males. Self -medication was used by study participants were mostly for clinical symptoms like headache 43%, backache 25%, and abdominal pain 13 % The common reasons for not consulting the physicians for drug prescription were unavailabity of doctors 33% in the area and lack of free health services 21% provided the area.