Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy Practice, KLR Pharmacy College, Palvancha, Telangana 507115, India.

KLR Pharmacy College, Palvancha, Telangana 507115, India

KLR Pharmacy College, Palvancha, Telangana 507115, India
Self-medication; community pharmacy; pharmacist intervention; rational drug use; antibiotics; cross-sectional study. ,

Self-medication is widespread in India and carries risks of adverse reactions, drug interactions and antimicrobial resistance. Community pharmacists are well placed to mitigate these risks. This study assessed the prevalence, patterns and determinants of self-medication and the extent of pharmacist intervention among community-pharmacy clients in Palwancha, Telangana. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted in five community pharmacies using a validated, structured questionnaire (content-validity index 0.87; knowledge-item alpha 0.76) administered to 200 adults. Data were analysed in SPSS using descriptive statistics and chi-square tests, with p<0.05 considered significant. Results: The prevalence of self-medication was 73.0%. Self-medication was significantly associated with male gender (77.6% vs 66.7%; p=0.041), younger age (p=0.038) and higher education (p=0.027). The commonest indications were fever (67.1%) and headache (61.6%), and the most-used drug classes were analgesics/antipyretics (68.5%) and antibiotics (41.8%). Pharmacist counselling occurred in only 38.4% of encounters, allergy enquiry in 20.5% and refusal to dispense a prescription-only medicine without prescription in 16.4%. Awareness of side effects (39.7%), drug interactions (24.7%) and antimicrobial resistance (30.1%) was low. Conclusion: Self-medication, including non-prescription antibiotic use, is highly prevalent while pharmacist intervention and patient awareness are inadequate, indicating an urgent need for pharmacist-led counselling and public education to promote rational drug use

16 , 2 , 2026