A PILOT STUDY TO ASSESS THE PREVALENCE AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS OF SELF MEDICATION AND EFFECTIVENESS OF NURSE LED VS PEER LED HEALTH EDUCATION ON KNOWLEDGE REGARDING ADVERSE EFFECTS OF SELF MEDICATION AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDERFIVE CHILDREN IN SELECTED RURAL COMMUNITY OF SALEM

Abstract

The most important aspect influencing a child's growth is their health, particularly during the first five years of life. Due to this age group's comparatively weakened immune system, illnesses and disease outbreaks have occurred recently. Using medication to cure or prevent illnesses without first visiting a doctor is known as self-medication. Self-medication carries a number of hazards that make it potentially dangerous. These concerns include drug interactions, antibiotic resistance, erroneous self-diagnosis, habituation, allergic responses, and the potential for dependence and misuse. Self-medication by mothers under five may be encouraged for a variety of reasons. To facilitate learning, these components need to be given the attention they deserve. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the prevalence of self-medication among mothers of children under five and the characteristics that are linked with it. 1270 mothers of children under five in a few villages in the Mallur block of the Salem District participated in a cross-sectional survey to determine the prevalence and contributing variables. The Demographic Proforma, Prevalence Questionnaire, and Checklist were utilized as data collection tools to evaluate the parameters related to self-medication. There were 1115 (87.79%) cases of self-medication overall. The majority of women who had children under five who had fever 261 (23.4) were also self-medicating. In 99% of cases, parental self-medication by children under five years old was linked to factors such as immediate symptom relief during an emergency, easy access to pharmacies without a valid prescription, low income, loss of wages, and high costs for medical consultations at health care facilities. Nurse-led and Peer-led health education groups were assigned to the villages of Nalikalpatti and Vengampatti, respectively. The study found that while the Nurse Led Health Education group's pre-test score was unsatisfactory at 11 (36.7%), the second post-test score was moderately adequate at 21 

(70%) following the intervention. Following the pretest in the peer-led health education group, health education on adverse effects of self medication were given by peer educator. After the intervention, the second post-test score was somewhat sufficient at 24 (80%), indicating a low level of understanding. The study comes to the conclusion that since mothers of children under five had a high prevalence of self-medication and a high practice of it prior to the pretest and after the intervention, they had sufficient knowledge about the negative effects of self-medication and had reduced their practice level to the maximum. Health education sessions led by nurses and peers are equally important. Health systems must be put in place in order to strengthen the policies that would restrict self-medication. The results point to the necessity of regular, ongoing health education on the dangers and risks associated with self-medication at the community level.