A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of a Structured Teaching Programme Regarding the Use of Over-The-Counter Drugs Among the Non-Health Professional Under Graduate Students of Selected Colleges at Mysuru District

Abstract

Background of the Study: The usage of over-the-counter medications has steadily increased in recent years. Improper use of OTCDs medications might result in health and other drug-related issues. Easy access to OTCDs medications has become more critical concern in developing countries. Aim and Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme regarding the uses of OTCDs among non-health professional under graduate students of selected colleges in Mysuru. Methods: In this study, one group is pre-test and post-test, pre-experimental design was used and purposive sampling technique was adopted to select 80 non-health professional students form selected colleges of Mysuru. Data were collected using self-administered knowledge questionnaire. Structured teaching programme on over-the-counter drugs and its management was provided for non-health professional under graduate students. Results: The result of the study revealed that only 1.25% of non-health professional students were having good knowledge, 29.85% of them having average knowledge and majority of the 62.8% non-health professional students were having poor knowledge. Educational intervention on prevention and uses of OTCDs was an effective strategy to increase the knowledge of non-health professional students as indicated by the computed ‘t’ value which was statistically significant at 0.05 level of significance t(79) =3.31. A significant association was found between the knowledge regarding OTCDs among non-health professional students with their selected personal variables viz. education, income of the family, residence, if there are any health care professionals in your family accept, age in years and gender. Conclusion: Therefore, the study concluded that the structured teaching program was effective method to improve the knowledge regarding the uses of OTCDs among non-health professional under graduate students.