Self-medicating patients rose to 35% in lockdown, say doctors

MUMBAI: A community-based study in Dadar has shown that about a third of the people who needed medical assistance chose to self-medicate during the first lockdown last year. Such patients could have contributed to the early spread of the pandemic within their locality, said doctors from the BMC-run KEM Hospital’s preventive and social medicine department in a write-up in the latest edition of JAPI (Journal of the Association of Physicians of India).

The survey, led by PSM department head Dr Gajanan Velhal, was carried out among 380 residents of Naigaon locality. “The National Health Mission data from March 2020 suggested that medical treatment, whether as in-patients, out-patients or emergencies, fell both for communicable and non-communicable non-Covid diseases,” said the JAPI article. One of the main reasons for keeping away from hospitals was the fear of Covid (77%), the lockdown (79%) and 73% felt their symptoms were too mild to need medical help.

In the survey, done between December and January, students from KEM interviewed 380 residents, of whom 58% were females. Almost 35% of the participants said they had chosen to self-medicate for complaints ranging from hypertension to viral fever. “When we asked them if they would have followed the approach before the lockdown for similar symptoms, only 7% replied in the affirmative,” said Dr Velhal. The tendency to self-medicate could have been contributed to early spread of Covid-19 in the locality, said the JAPI study.

Medical student Shirish Rao, who was part of the survey, said there was not awareness about teleconsultation though the group tried to talk about the Centre’s e-sanjeevani option. “Among the 9.1% who reached a medical facility due to an emergency, the outing wasn’t satisfactory due to the Covid restrictions and rules within hospitals,” added Rao. Heart attacks, diabetic foot-related complications and deep vein thrombosis were among the emergencies that people entered hospitals during the first lockdown last year.

Among those who self-medicated, tablets for cough, fever and painkillers were “used once to occasionally”, while multivitamins, Ayush medications and home remedies such as kadha were taken “frequently to almost daily” to boost their immunity.