Drug Use Pattern Among Medical Students of The National University of Rwanda

Abstract

Knowledge on use of drugs among students should help assess the perception of students on drugs.. The present ,work studies the pattern of drug use among medical students of the National University of Rwanda. The study was carried out on English speaking medical students and was a cross-sectional one. Data was collected through a structured questionnaire. There was not significant difference between 3"1 and 46 year students in responding to any of the questions asked in this study. Most students of both years had taken medicine two weeks prior to the distribution of the questionnaire. Only some students practised self-medication. About 50% of the drugs used for self-medication were fir analgesics. Antimicrobials were the next group of drugs commonly taken for self-medication. Oral route of administration was observed to be popular among most students. Over 50% of the drugs were purchased from government health institutions and on prescriptions. About 50% of the students opted for tablets, while 30% did not have any preference if they were given options. This study shows that drug utilization pattern among students is not worrying, though there is still a lot to be desired towards promotion of rational use of drugs among medical students, the future prescribers.