[01] Tan Meng Shen, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [02] Sankavi Subbramani, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [03] Shawn Kee Zhe Hao, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia. [04] Nisa Adini Binti Mohd Jafri, Faculty of Medicine, Manipal University College Malaysia, Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE), Melaka, Malaysia.

Acne is one of the commonest chronic skin lesions affecting both genders of the teenager and adult population. Acne, although common, can be disfiguring and cause great amount of discomfort to some to the extent of affecting their quality of life. Self-medication has now become a common practice worldwide more so amongst the medical students due to their knowledge about drugs and diseases. The objective of our study was to determine if the medical students use self-medicate drugs like benzoyl peroxide for their treatment of acne as well as to assess the student’s knowledge, practices and attitude on self-medication for acne. We also aimed to determine the reason for self-medication, sources of information and types of drugs used for the self-medication of acne among the medical students. A cross-sectional study was conducted from May 2021 till June 2021 involving the medical students of Manipal University College Malaysia. A study population of 1300 medical students was selected and purposive sampling was used to select students for this study. An online questionnaire was sent to the students and they were required to answer both part 1 and 2 of the validated questionnaire. The data collected was then analysed using Epi Info app version 7.2. The analysis included frequency table, percentages, odds ratio and Chi-square test. All statistical tests were seen at two-tailed level of significance (p≤0.05). A total of 134 (93.06%) out of 144 medical students participated; 61.94% practiced self-medication for acne while 31.34% did nothing and 6.72% consulted a dermatologist. It was found that self-medication was practiced most among the students with acne lesions on their face (55.97%). The most common source of information on self-medication was from either seminars, lectures or the internet (35.82%). 59.70% showed that they had poor knowledge on self-medication for acne following 34.33% having moderate knowledge and the remaining 5.97% showed good knowledge. It is seen that students with moderate and poor attitude were 0.26 (95% CI for OR= 0.06-8.67; P-value= 0.808) and 0.14 (95% CI for OR= 0.07-9.93; P-value= 0.905) times less likely to practice self-medication than those with good attitude. Majority of them reads the instructions and the expiration date on the drug label with 90.30% and 91.04% respectively. Self-medication for acne is essential for self-care, which involves treating minor sickness. Nevertheless, it should be done with profound knowledge and only with over the counter medications.

Knowledge, Attitude, Practices, Acne, Self-medication, Medical Students, Cross-sectional Study, Malaysia

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