FREQUENCY OF SELF MEDICATION AMONG PATIENTS PRESENTING WITH COMMON INFECTIOUS DISEASES AT KHYBER TEACHING HOSPITAL PESHAWAR, KPK, PAKISTAN

Objective: To determine the frequency of self medications among patients of infectious diseases at Khyber teaching hospital Peshawar and to determine the type of medicines most commonly used for self medications in infectious diseases. Materials and Methods: It was a descriptive type of cross-sectional study and was conducted from 1st Dec 2018 to 31st July 2019. A consecutive non probability sampling of 310 people was taken from both the inpatient and outpatient departments of Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar. Results: Of the 310 subjects included in the research 161 were female while 149 male. The prevalence of self-medication was found to be 65.79%. Commonly used medicines were antibiotics (28.49%), antipyretics (24.58%) and analgesics (10.06%). The most common (46.04%) reason for self-medicating was previous use of that drug while the choice of drug was most commonly (39.11%) based on a previous doctor prescription. Conclusion: Prevalence of self-medication was 65.79%. and was high in the educated population despite majority being aware of its harmful effects., in addition every stake holder in the health set up needs to play its part in curbing this practice.