| ORIGINAL ARTICLES |
|
| Year : 2022 | Volume
: 9
| Issue : 2 | Page : 154-159 |
|
|
Knowledge, attitude, and practice of ‘over-the-counter’ medications among medical and non-medical professionals during COVID-19 pandemic
Asawari Raut, Biji Elza Varghese, Digamber Rajendra Singh, Shirin Mariyam Reji
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Poona College of Pharmacy, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Erandwane, Pune- 411038, Maharashtra, India
Correspondence Address:
Prof. Asawari Raut
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Poona College of Pharmacy, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to be University), Erandwane, Pune- 411038, Maharashtra
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None
DOI: 10.4103/mgmj.mgmj_10_22
|
|
|
Background: India is one of the emerging markets for over-the-counter (OTC) drugs and offers significant growth potential for the industry. There has been a huge rise in the use of OTC drugs since the beginning of the pandemic for which some major reasons are lack of time, non-availability of prescribers, and hospital exposure during a pandemic. Aim: To assess knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of ‘over-the-counter’ medications among medical and non-medical professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Settings and Design: The study was conducted at Bharati Hospital and Research Center, Pune, Maharashtra, India. Materials and Methods: A descriptive observational study was conducted. Statistical Analysis Used: Descriptive (mean, percentage, and standard deviation) and inferential (chi-square test) statistics were used. Statistical analysis was done using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences(SPSS) software version 10.0. Results: Out of 310 samples majority showed poor knowledge (50.65%), high practice (56.13%), and negative attitude (70%) towards the use of OTC drugs. There is a significant association found between age (p-value 0) and health care status (p-value 0) with the level of knowledge. Age group (p-value 0.046) and employee status (p-value 0.00033) showed a significant association with the practice of OTC drugs. Healthcare status showed a significant association (p-value 0.0007) towards attitude toward the use of OTC drugs. Conclusion: Participants reported overall poor knowledge with a negative attitude and adopted the high practice use of OTC drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Increased awareness about self-medication is important to avoid complications associated with the high practice of OTC medications. |
|
|
|
| [FULL TEXT] [PDF]* |
|
 |
|
