Trends in prescribing patterns and drug related problems of kidney disease patients.

The descriptive cross-sectional study was planned to evaluate drug-related problems, including drug-drug interactions, dose error, use of nephrotoxic drugs and polypharmacy, with special emphasis on kidney disease patients. The study was conducted from January to June 2019 in the Nephrology Ward of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Abbottabad, Pakistan. Doses of medicine and drug-drug interactions were evaluated by comparing it with standard protocols in British National Formulary and Lexicomp. Prescriptions were also evaluated for polypharmacy and use of nephrotoxic drugs. Out of 131 patients, 72 (55%) were males. Drug-drug interactions were found in 69 (52.7%) patients among whom the highest percentage was of moderate drug-drug interaction 63 (48.1%), followed by major 39 (29.8%) and minor 29 (22%) drug-drug interactions. Incidence of polypharmacy 68 (51.9%) and use of nephrotoxic drug 101 (77%) was high, while dose error was low 14 (10.7%). All drug-related problems were present with a high percentage in patients with chronic kidney diseases 29 (78.4) out of 37 (28.2%) such patients. There was significant association of chronic kidney diseases stages with drug-drug interactions, polypharmacy, dose error and prescribing drugs (p<0.05). The higher incidence of drug-related problems reflected irrational prescribing trends and deficiency of professional staff dealing with kidney disease patients.

Implications of self-medication among medical students-A dilemma.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of self-medication in medical undergraduate students. METHODS: This cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted from January to June, 2017, among undergraduate students of Ayub Teaching Hospital, Women Medical College, International Medical College and Frontier Medical College in Abbottabad, Pakistan. The sample comprised students of first, second, third, fourth and fifth professional year. Data was collected using self-generated questionnaire. RESULTS: Of the 400 subjects approached, 300(75%) returned the questionnaire fully completed. Of them, 208 (69.3%) were females and 92(30.66%) were males. The most common age group was 22-25 years 182(60.7%). Self-medication was found to be prevalent among 297(99%) subjects and 139(46.3%) respondents had practised self-medication in the preceding 6 months more than two times. Over-the-counter drugs were commonly used for the self-medication in 295(98.3%) cases. Overall, 285(95%) respondents had a positive attitude towards self-medication. Media was found to be the most common source of information for 93(31%) cases. CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of self-medication was noticed, with over-the-counter drugs being the most commonly used. Proper educational awareness programmes about self-medication can control the issue.

Evaluation of self-medication amongst university students in Abbottabad, Pakistan; prevalence, attitude and causes.

Self-medication is a serious issue in most parts of the world. This study aims to evaluate self-medication among university students of Abbottabad, Pakistan. This cross-sectional survey study was carried out in COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad during December 1 - December 31,2011. A sample of 275 students was selected for the study using convenience method of sampling. Data were managed and analyzed via SPSS version 16.0. Inferences were drawn using Z-test Out of 268 respondents (male = 61.6%, female = 38.6%), 138 were non-health professional students whereas 130 were health professional students. The prevalence of self-medication was 95.5%. Most common factor (45.7%) responsible for self-medication was "low severity of disease". Most common symptom (50.8%) that caused self-medication and stocking of medicines was "storage of medicines for multi purposes". Some respondents (22.7%) got addicted due to self-medication. Most of the students trust in allopathic medicines system. High prevalence of self-medication can be controlled through regulatory authorities, mass education and availability of health facilities.