A Study on Usage Pattern of Prescription Medications Dispensed Over-The-Counter (OTC) in Community Settings
Journal Title: The International Journal of Therapeutics - Year 2018, Vol 1, Issue 1
Abstract
Background: Prescription medications are medications that are sold over the counter as per the prescription of a registered medical practitioner. Since there is no officially published list of Over-The-Counter (OTC) medications in India, most of the drugs are dispensed by the dispensing pharmacist. Objective: To assess the usage pattern of prescription medicines sold OTC. Methodology: A cross-sectional observational study was conducted at one selected pharmacy community setting in Mysore city. Research duration (4 pm to 6 pm) on daily basis carried out for a period of 9 months by research investigators to assess the prescription medications sold OTC. During the study period, the response of the customers who visited the pharmacy to purchase prescription medications without prescriptions and agreed to answer the questionnaire to assess their knowledge on the use of purchased medications were documented. Statistical analysis used: Data was analyzed by descriptive statistics using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Results: Out of a total of 962 customers, 560 purchased prescription medications without a prescription during our research period. A total of 282 (50.36%) customers agreed to answer the questionnaire. Self-medication was highly prevalent among educated individuals aged between 21-40 years (45.71%;256). The most common purchased prescription medications OTC were analgesics (41.25%;231), followed by antibiotics (32.50%;182). Conclusions: Overall, this research study concluded that most commonly purchased medications without prescription were analgesics and antibiotics. Drug regulatory authorities in India should enforce stringent laws to ensure control over the sale of OTC medications.
Authors and Affiliations
Tito Luvanda, BR Jaidev Kumar, Dr. Ambed Mishra, Anil Kumar
Keywords
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