Bachelor Of Pharmacy Student, Dr. D. Y. Patil College Of Pharmacy, Akurdi, Pune, India..
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications play a vital role in self-care by enabling individuals to treat minor ailments without prescriptions. However, inappropriate use, particularly in developing countries, can lead to risks such as incorrect diagnosis, drug interactions, and adverse effects. This study assesses the knowledge, attitudes, and usage patterns of OTC medicines among the general population in Pune, Maharashtra.A cross-sectional survey using a structured 30-question Google Form was conducted with 171–172 participants, mainly young adults (97.1%) aged 18–25. The study evaluated medication use, reasons for self-medication, safety awareness, and pharmacist involvement.Results showed that 49.1% recently used OTC drugs, primarily for fever (86%) and headache (69.8%), with paracetamol being the most common (92.4%). However, 54.1% were unaware of its potential liver toxicity. Unsafe practices were noted, including only 21.5% consistently reading instructions and 52.9% increasing doses without medical advice. Despite high trust in pharmacists, only 24.4% regularly consulted them.The study indicates widespread self-medication among young adults, with significant gaps in safety awareness and professional guidance. Strengthening public health education and promoting pharmacist involvement are essential for safe and rational OTC drug use.
Over-the-counter (OTC) drugs are pharmaceutical items that can be purchased without a prescription and which are commonly employed in the treatment of minor illnesses like fever, headache, cough, cold, acidity, and mild pain. OTC medicines constitute a crucial part of self-care in all parts of the world owing to their high accessibility, affordability and the proven safety profile when used properly.Self-medication which is the act where individuals use medicines to treat self-identified symptoms without the help of a professional is on the rise. The World Health Organisation acknowledges responsible self-medication as a positive practice which may alleviate the load on healthcare systems(3). Nevertheless, incorrect diagnosis, drug interactions, adverse drug reactions, and masking of underlying diseases are some of the severe outcomes that may occur as a result of inappropriate and unmonitored OTC medication use.Use of OTCs is especially common in developing nations such as India because of the accessibility of drugs, the laxity of regulations, the high prices of healthcare services and the inaccessibility of medical care(4). People usually get medications in pharmacies, re-use previous prescriptions, or get left-over drugs; this makes the human susceptible to irrational prescription and other related health issues.Medication misuse has become a major health issue and a huge percentage of health spending has been channeled to the wasteful medications(1). Other causes of OTC drug misuse and overuse include insufficient knowledge on dispensing, patient-initiated demand, and insufficient awareness(2). The most commonly used classes are analgesics, antipyretics, antacids, and cough and cold preparations, and their inappropriate use may lead to toxicity and high healthcare costs(5).
Community pharmacists have the crucial responsibility of making sure that OTC medicines are used safely and rationally by giving advice on the dosage, drug interaction and side effects(6). But suboptimal patient counselling and poor professional consultation diminish the efficacy of this protection.
Given the popularity of OTC medications and the possible risks of their abuse, the knowledge, attitude, and practices of ordinary citizens need to be considered.
Thus, the current research seeks to evaluate the trends of OTC medication use in the general population and also understand their knowledge on the correct use, potential risks, and safety measures pertaining to self-medication.
MATERIALS & METHODS:
Data obtained was tabulated and analysed descriptively. The questionnaire data on 172 respondents were tabulated, charted, and graphically represented to assess the trends in the use, awareness, and safety of over-the-counter (OTC) drugs.
Categorical variables (including age, gender, education level, OTC drug use, self-medication behaviour’s) were calculated in terms of percentages and frequencies. Bar graphs and pie charts were used to present the results so that they can be easily visualised and interpreted.
The study was aimed at assessing the trends in the use of OTC drugs, understanding of the safe use of the drugs, the level of self-medication habits of the general population, and the risk accompanying this kind of habit.
RESULTS:
Table: 1 Demographic Characteristics:
|
Parameters |
Percentages |
|
97.1% |
|
55.2% |
|
91.3% |
|
96.5% |
The study involved a total of 172 participants. Most of the sample (97.1) was in the age category of 18-25 years, which suggests that it was a mostly young adult population.
The gender balance was fair and was 55: 45 in terms of females and males respectively. The population of the study was highly educated with the majority (91.3) being undergraduates and 96.5 being students.
About 47.1% of the respondents indicated that they had a chronic health condition.
Prevalence and Pattern of OTC Drug Use:
The analysis found out that 49.1 percent of the respondents had consumed OTC drugs within the past six months. Fifty four point seven percent of them said that they used OTC drugs occasionally and only 8.1% had used them regularly.
The most frequent conditions in which OTC drugs were used were fever (86%), and headache (69.8%).
The most frequently used drug was paracetamol (92.4%), then ibuprofen (69.2%), which is an indication of heavy usage of analgesics and antipyretics.
Table: 2 Source of Procurement
|
Parameters |
Percentages |
|
91.3% |
|
58.4% |
|
51.4% |
|
27.7% |
Most of the respondents (91.3) used physical pharmacies to buy OTC medicines but 58.7% also used online pharmacy services.This shows a trend of increased use of digital means of accessing healthcare and traditional pharmacy use.
Awareness and Safety Practices:
Participants have only 21.5% who said they always read medication instructions and 75% of the participants said they sometimes read medication instructions.
Approximately three quarters of the respondents could confirm expiry dates prior to use with a sizeable percentage (25%) of respondents not engaging in the practice.
It is important to note that among the people surveyed, 54.1% were unaware of the fact that paracetamol overdose may cause liver toxicity, and this significant knowledge gap should be addressed.
Self-Medication Behaviour:
Self-medication was very widespread with 43 % of the respondents indicating that they used OTC drugs without seeking the advice of a healthcare provider.
A considerable percentage (61.6%) took medications on old prescriptions and 58.1 % reused the old prescription of similar symptoms.
Worryingly, 52.9 % of participants acknowledged the use of higher dosage without physician recommendation, and 55.2% used two or more OTC drugs at the same time (poly-pharmacy), which predisposes to negative outcomes.
Role of Pharmacist:
Only a quarter of the respondents will always seek the advice of a pharmacist before purchasing OTC drugs with most only seeking advice occasionally.
Nevertheless, 68.4% stated that they were properly guided by pharmacists, and 82.6% said that they trusted pharmacist advice.
This implies that pharmacists are not used to their full potential as they are trusted.
Table: 3 Adverse Effects and Risk Perception:
|
Parameters |
Percentages |
|
35.7% |
|
65.7% |
|
59.9% |
About 35.7 percent of the respondents written down they had some side effects of OTC drugs with the most prevalent ones being gastric irritation, nausea, and allergies.
About 65.7 percent were using OTC drugs over five days straight implying patterns of long term use.
Although 59.9% admitted that taking OTC drugs is not entirely safe, still a considerable number of the population used unsafe practices.
The research shows that there is a big gap between knowledge and practice concerning the use of OTC drugs. Though risk awareness was moderate, such unsafe practices as self-medication, dose escalation, and poly-pharmacy were quite common.
The insufficient level of awareness of the toxicity of paracetamol and the irregularity in following the safety guidelines are significant issues.
Although trust to pharmacists is high, being less consultative means that the need to seek professional advice is minimised, leading to risky behaviour of taking drugs without sense.
“Figure 1. graphical representation of OTC study results”
The figure shows the major conclusions of the study in connection with the use patterns, safety awareness and behavioural practice linked to the use of over-the-counter (OTC) medications in the context of the study population. About 49.1 per cent of the respondents said they used OTC drugs in the recent past. The most common reasons why OTCs were used were fever (86%), and headache (69.8%). The most popular drug (92.4% was paracetamol).
When it comes to safety awareness, only 45.9% of the participants knew about the possible toxicity of paracetamol overdose. Safe medication practices were reported to be suboptimal with only 21.5% of the respondents always reading the medication instructions. Moreover, 52.9% confessed to raising the dosage without any recommendation.
About the pharmacist intervention, only a quarter of those interviewed said that they always consulted a pharmacist when using OTC drugs, which means that they under-utilised professional advice, which is important.
The figure, in general, proves that there is a big disparity between high rates of OTC drugs use and insufficient levels of safety awareness and practices in the study population.
DISCUSSION
The current research assessed the knowledge, attitudes, and practice regarding the use of over-the-counter (OTC) medications, which are mainly used by young adults. The results show that self-medication is prevalent with 49.1% of the respondents saying they have used OTC recently. This is in line with other studies which found high prevalence rates in similar populations such as that of Goyal et al. and Balamurugan and Ganesh.
The most frequent causes of OTC use included fever and headache, with paracetamol and ibuprofen being the most common drugs used. Though these drugs are usually harmless, the percentage of people who were not aware of the hepatotoxic nature of excessive intake of paracetamol was very high (54.1), and a major safety awareness gap exists. Gupta et al. have also reported similar findings, revealing a lack of knowledge on drug safety.
Unsafe practices were noted despite a moderate degree of awareness. The percentage of those who always read medication instructions is low and many reported the increase of dose, taking up of an old prescription and taking of several OTC medications. These actions augment the danger of adverse drug reactions and drug interactions, which have been likewise identified in the past.
The pharmacist is the most important in encouraging rational drug use but this aspect has not been exploited. Even though the majority of the respondents expressed trust in pharmacists, very few regularly consulted them prior to buying medications. Increasing the level of pharmacist-patient interaction may be a significant improvement in the area of safe medication practices.
A significant percentage of respondents indicated that they had adverse effects, especially gastrointestinal ones, and probably due to the use of NSAIDs. Also, when OTC drugs are used longer than recommended, it further exposes people to health risks.
In general, the research shows the lack of awareness and practice related to OTC medication use. Self-medication is convenient, but when used improperly, it can be extremely dangerous. The necessity to provide safe and rational use of OTC medicines requires strengthening the awareness of the population and involvement of pharmacists.
Study limitations:
The sample size of the study was also a limitation as it was composed of young adults, which could limit the generalisability. The data were self-reported and could be biased, no more than a descriptive statistical analysis was conducted.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, although OTC drugs are a convenient and cost-effective way of treating minor health conditions, their unreasonable use by the young population is very dangerous to the community health. This paper confirms that self-medication is a normative practice but which is frequently typified by poor consultation of the professionals and failure to follow safety precautions.
The results emphasise the urgent need for:
Improved Regulatory Frameworks: Introduction of a form of OTC in India to improve the monitoring of sales and safety profiles.
Enhancing the roles of Pharmacists: Replacing the positioning of the community pharmacists as vendors with the dynamic role as advisors giving mandatory counselling at the point-of-sale.
Public Awareness Campaigns: Educating consumers about the particular toxicities of typical drugs such as paracetamol to avoid accidental overdose and chronic organ toxicity.
Finally, responsible self-medication may empower patients, and decrease the workload on healthcare systems. This is possible, however, only in case consumers are well-informed, and professional safeguards, either in brick-and-mortar stores or online pharmacies, are very stringent.
"OTC drugs are not completely risk-free"
"There is a significant gap between knowledge and practice"
"Pharmacist intervention is essential"
REFERENCES
M. Ahirrao, G. Dhaneshwar, A Cross-sectional Study on OTC Medication Use and Self-Medication Practices among general population , Int. J. of Pharm. Sci., 2026, Vol 4, Issue 4, 4778-4783, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19880197
10.5281/zenodo.19880197
