Family Self Medication in Children Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Northeast India

This study was undertaken to determine the prevalence and determinants of family self-medication in children in northeast India. A validated structured interview schedule was used in 487 caregivers of children attending the outpatient department and in-patient ward of the department of pediatrics, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal, India. The study schedule included questions related to the socio-demographic profile of the participants and their practice of self-medication for their children for the last 6 months. Descriptive statistics like mean and percentage were used. Chi square test was used for significance. A p value of <0.05 was considered as significant. The prevalence of self-medication was found to be 56.1%. The preference of self-medication was significantly dependent on the age of children. The preference was, however, not significantly dependent on gender, birth order of children, or educational and socio-economic status of parents. INTRODUCTION: Children comprise a large percentage of the population in developing countries and are prone to many illnesses. The response of many families towards illness of their children is use of drugs without a prescription. This type of self medication (SM) is regarded as an important component of primary health care in most countries 1, . SM increases the risk of adverse drug reactions, drug resistance, and masks the diseases especially in children. In Nigeria, the prevalence of SM among infants has been reported to be 47.6% . A study conducted in Sydney revealed that 44% of parents administered wrong SM to their children . In India, the prevalence of SM among pre-school age children has been reported to be 58.91% . To the best of our knowledge, there is no study on the prevalence and determinants of SM in children across various age groups in northeast India. Such studies are essential to obtain a clear understanding of the present features of SM. This study was therefore undertaken to determine the prevalence and determinants of SM in children. METHODS: This cross sectional study was conducted at the out-patient department and in-patient ward of the department of pediatrics, Regional Institute of Medical Sciences, Imphal. It was conducted after taking approval from the institutional ethics committee, for three weeks, in the month of April 2012. A validated structured interview schedule was used as study instrument.