Posts Tagged ‘Self Medication’
A telephonic survey has been recently conducted by ‘Harris Interactive’ on behalf of the National Council on ‘Patient Information and Education (NCPIE)’ to determine the various circumstances under which consumers are most likely to succumb to self-medication for themselves and their children. The survey was supported by ‘sanofi-aventis’. Sample of 1,005 adults’ ages 18+ were randomly selected and interviewed out of which 650 were exclusively identified for self medication before or instead of visiting their doctor.
It also attempted to know the different factors which encourage consumers to take non-prescription or over-the-counter medications before or instead of consulting their doctor.
The results show that 76% of American adults in spite of knowing the risks involved use non-prescription medications in order to save time, money and a trip to the doctor. Most of the consumers were found self treating seasonal allergies and year-round allergies. Few percent also reported self-medicating for cough and cold, seasonal or year-round allergies, heartburn, or severe headaches. Most of them admitted doing this due to past experience treating the condition however the majority accepted the possibility of risks involved while doing this.
