Abstract

A STUDY ON ASSESSMENT OF AWARENESS AND SELFMEDICATION PRACTICES OF THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN COVID- 19 PANDEMIC: A QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED ONLINE SURVEY

Ann Elizabeth George*, Jebin John, Navapreetha and Nithin Varghese Kuzhikala

Abstract

In India lack of awareness about COVID- 19 contributed the most to worldwide spread of the disease. The study aimed at assessing the awareness regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and prevalence of selfmedication and its associated factors during the pandemic. The selfmedication pattern between healthcare workers and non-healthcare workers, association between the demographic factors and selfmedication were also assessed. An online questionnaire-based survey was conducted for 6 months among the South Indian population (>18 yrs.) during the pandemic. A total of 1000 participants took part in the online questionnaire survey with a response rate of 98.04%. The majority of the respondents 946 (94.6%) knew the basic information on COVID-19, that it is a virus and is an infectious disease.829 (82.9%) believed that it can be prevented while 66 (6.6%) thought the disease cannot be prevented. The prevalence of self-medication practices for COVID-19 was found to be 69.2%, the most frequently used drug being paracetamol (51.8 %). The majority of respondents (49%) chose to self-medicate due to the fear of COVID-19 and to boost immunity. Out of 1000 respondents, 252 (25.2%) worked in the healthcare sector and 748(74.8%) worked in other sectors. Majority of respondents showed a satisfactory level of awareness and a positive attitude towards COVID- 19 precautionary practices. Although self-medication can be favorable in some cases the consequences of it cannot be neglected. There is a need for educating the public in which pharmacist plays a major role.

Keywords: COVID-19, awareness, self-medication, RT-PCR, immunity, multidrug resistance, dilemma, consequences, infrastructure.