Survey on perception for over the counter medicine use without prescription among the general people in the Gazipur, Bangladesh

Majedul Hoque *, Arafath Jubayer, Md Aktaruzzaman, Md Nahid Hasan, Mohammad Sabbir Hossain, Taharat Akram and Shuvo Nath Saha

Department of Pharmacy, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
 
Research Article
Open Access Research Journal of Biology and Pharmacy, 2023, 09(01), 019–026.
Article DOI: 10.53022/oarjbp.2023.9.1.0041
Publication history: 
Received on 29 August 2023; revised on 04 October 2023; accepted on 07 October 2023
 
Abstract: 
The use of over-the-counter (OTC) medications is a global phenomenon, particularly among people in general in developing nations. This kind of drug can be used without a prescription. Alarmingly the use of medication without prescriptions among the general people for longer duration is increasing day by day. The study was meant to evaluate the prevalence of non-prescribed medications among people living in the Gazipur city corporation of Bangladesh. From January to March 2023, a cross-sectional survey was carried out in the Gazipur City Corporation (GCC). Data were gathered from patients and non-patients who self-administered medications using a semi-structured questionnaire, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the results. Total study population were 300, among them 261 were non-prescription medicine user, of which participants were Govt. Job holder (16.8%), garments worker (11.1%), housewife (7.7%) and students (64.3%). Aged between 22 and 45 years, there were 56.3% males and 43.7% females. Mostly used medication groups were Anthelmintic 33% NSAIDs (24%), antacids (8.5%) and antibiotics (17%). The compliance was rated as excellent (13.4%) and good (55.5%). Unexpectedly, the majority of people regularly take anti-gut worm medications because they virtually always develop at the same period in almost everyone. They believe a prescription is not necessary in order to take an anthelmintic medication at any time.

 

Keywords: 
Prescription; Students; People; Anthelmintic; Bangladesh; Gazipur
 
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