Assessment of Public Knowledge, Attitude and Practice on Medicine Use in Kabirpur of Sonipat City, Haryana, India

The objective of this study was to assessment the public knowledge, attitude and practice of medicine use in Sonipat city India. A cross-sectional study was conducted using a set of household interview questionnaire. 7% of respondents visited multiple facilities on the same day for the same aliment and 23% failed to go for follow up to the same facility.25% did not accept non-drug therapy and 92% preferred prescription of three or more medicines per visit. 9% did not inform the prescriber or dispenser about currently using medicine and 52% did not asked the side effect of medicines. A total of 60% were unaware that most medicines have side effects and 74% stopped taking their medicines when symptoms disappeared; 77% did not realize that the injections are riskiest dosage form, 13% had definite color and taste preferences;34% practiced self medication and 27% never consulted the dispenser; 21% choose medicines based on previous experience and 29% exchanged medicineswith others; 2% stored all their medicines in refrigerator and 24% did not check the expiry date; 64% threw unused medicines away; 28% kept them for future use and 8% returned them to a pharmacy or health facility. There is a widespread lack of knowledge about the appropriate use of medicines in Sonipat city. Certain attitude and beliefs can contribute to health risks and unnecessary expenditure. Most of the result can be improved by a well- targeted public education campaign.