Self-medication: A Harmful Practice and a Cause of Poisoning Admissions in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern India
Tanmoy Biswas, Anurag Chaudhuri, Suvro Ganguly, Lopamudra D Chowdhury
Keywords :
Emergency admissions, Poisoning, Self-medication related overdosing
Citation Information :
Biswas T, Chaudhuri A, Ganguly S, Chowdhury LD. Self-medication: A Harmful Practice and a Cause of Poisoning Admissions in a Tertiary Care Hospital in Eastern India. Bengal Physician Journal 2024; 11 (2):76-79.
Background: The pattern of poisoning in India varies with socioeconomic status as well as region. A thorough understanding of the demographics and management of poisoning cases is essential for the development of well-informed policies, targeted interventions, and effective public awareness campaigns. The indiscriminate practice of self-medication in developing countries like India often leads to cases of overdosing, which poses a significant alarm. The present study aimed to explore poisoning cases in a tertiary care setup and determine the prevalence of self-medication-related overdosing as a cause of poisoning.
Materials and methods: This cross-sectional observational study included emergency admission cases of poisoning in whom demographic data including age and gender were noted. Information on the type and cause of poisoning were noted based on clinical records and history elicitation from patients or their caregivers. In the case of drug overdose-related poisoning cases, the chemical nature of the drug and the mode of the drug procurement were probed. Data were analyzed statistically.
Results: The study observed that the age group of less than 20 years was the most vulnerable, while the age group of more than 70 years was the least vulnerable. Females were most affected. Among the types of poisoning observed, accidental (49%) and suicidal (48%) intent were almost the same. About 2.55% of cases were homicidal. Drugs were most commonly the causative agents (39%). Among the drug-causing poisonings, self-medication-related overdose was as high as 40.98%. Among the various causative agents, sedatives-hypnotics were the most common causative drugs, including alprazolam, chlordiazepoxide, diazepam, and zolpidem. This was followed by antihistaminics, antitussives, and antihypertensives. On the contrary, prescription drugs were responsible for 59.01% of drug poisoning cases.
Conclusion: The healthcare system including the healthcare professionals and various government programs must come forward to educate the masses regarding the hazards of self-medication. This will impart knowledge and understanding of the self-medication practices and will curb the associated menace.
Müller D, Desel H. Common causes of poisoning: Etiology, diagnosis and treatment. Dtsch Arztebl Int 2013;110(41):690–699;quiz 700. DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2013.0690.
Chatterjee S, Verma VK, Hazra A, et al. An observational study on acute poisoning in a tertiary care hospital in West Bengal, India. Perspect Clin Res 2020;11(2):75–80. DOI: 10.4103/picr.PICR_181_18.
Behera A, Singla N, Sharma N, et al. Paradigm shift in pattern and prevalence of poisoning during COVID-19 pandemic. J Family Med Prim Care 2022;11(1):208–214. DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_916_21.
National Crime Records Bureau 2022 Report. 2022. Available from: https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-updates/daily-news-analysis/ncrbs-crime-in-india-2022-report.
Utyasheva L, Bhullar L. Human rights perspective on pesticide exposure and poisoning in children: A case study of India. Health Hum Rights 2021;23(2):49–61. PMID: 34966224.
Hernandez-Juyol M, Job-Quesada JR. Dentistry and self-medication: A current challenge. Med Oral 2002;7(5):344–347. PMID: 12415218.
Jayakrishnan B, Al Asmi A, Al Qassabi A, et al. Acute drug overdose: Clinical profile, etiologic spectrum and determinants of duration of intensive medical treatment. Oman Med J 2012;27(6):501–504. DOI: 10.5001/omj.2012.120.
Kariisa M, Davis NL, Kumar S, et al. Vital signs: Drug overdose deaths, by selected sociodemographic and social determinants of health characteristics–25 States and the District of Columbia, 2019–2020. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71(29):940–947. DOI: 10.15585/mmwr.mm7129e2.
Mittal C, Singh S, Kumar-MP, et al. Toxicoepidemiology of poisoning exhibited in Indian population from 2010 to 2020: A systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open 2021;11(5):e045182. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045182.
Ruiz ME. Risks of self-medication practices. Curr Drug Saf 2010;5(4):315–323. DOI: 10.2174/157488610792245966.
Tariq RA, Vashisht R, Sinha A, et al. Medication dispensing errors and prevention. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK519065/.
Abdel-Latif MM. Knowledge of healthcare professionals about medication errors in hospitals. J Basic Clin Pharm 2016;7(3):87–92. DOI: 10.4103/0976-0105.183264.
Böhm R, Proksch E, Schwarz T, et al. Drug hypersensitivity. Dtsch Arztebl Int 2018;115(29–30):501–512. DOI: 10.3238/arztebl.2018.0501.
Mufarrihah M, Yuda A, Paramanandana A, et al. Self-medication profiles in school-age adolescents in Surabaya city, Indonesia. J Public Health Afr 2023;14(Suppl 1):2530. DOI: 10.4081/jphia.2023.2530.
De Sanctis V, Soliman AT, Daar S, et al. Prevalence, attitude and practice of self-medication among adolescents and the paradigm of dysmenorrhea self-care management in different countries. Acta Biomed 2020;91(1):182–192. DOI: 10.23750/abm.v91i1.9242.
Lee CH, Chang FC, Hsu SD, et al. Inappropriate self-medication among adolescents and its association with lower medication literacy and substance use. PLoS ONE 2017;12(12):e0189199. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189199.
Mathias EG, D'souza A, Prabhu S. Self-medication practices among the adolescent population of South Karnataka, India. Journal of Environmental and Public Health 2020;2020(3): Article ID 9021819. DOI: 10.1155/2020/9021819.
Bennadi D. Self-medication: A current challenge. J Basic Clin Pharm 2013;5(1):19–23. DOI: 10.4103/0976-0105.128253.