Comparing the Frequency of Self-Medication Among Physical Therapy Students of Major Private Colleges of Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

Introduction: Taking medication without a doctor’s prescription is not always harmful and may reduce the cost and save the time. In Pakistan, homemade remedies and spiritual faith are the first line of treatment of minor illnesses. This study was carried on undergraduate Physical Therapy students of Karachi, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: Was a cross-sectional study, conducted on 250 undergraduate Physical Therapy students from major private and semiprivate colleges of Karachi, Pakistan. The participants were chosen by simple random sampling method. The research was done using 95% confidence interval. Results: Our result shows that medication use without doctor’s advice is a frequent practice among the undergraduate Physical Therapy students of major private and semi-private institutes of Karachi, Pakistan. It was observed that 5%, 21%, 18%, 4%, 27%, 25% of the students were taking self-medication on daily, weekly, fortnight, monthly, yearly and occasional basis, respectively. Conclusion: Headache is the main ailment for which students are practicing self-medication.

Keywords

• Self-medication, undergraduate students, physical therapy, Karachi