Parmar, U I (UI);Jaju, T (T);Tripathi, R (R);Sundaram, S (S);Bhatia, S (S);

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J Postgrad Med.2025 Aug 11;71(3):110-116.doi:10.4103/jpgm.jpgm_141_25

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Functional bowel disorders (FBD) are chronic, recurrent, debilitating disorders affecting the mid or lower gastrointestinal tract with no identifiable underlying pathology. There is a dearth of Indian studies focusing on treatment awareness and prescription evaluation in FBD. Due to chronic course, patients tend to self-medicate. The study was planned to evaluate disease and drug treatment awareness, self-medication practices, and prescription patterns in FBD patients.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional, single-center, questionnaire-based study was carried out on FBD patients after getting clearance from the Institutional Ethics Committee. The patients were administered two questionnaires, i.e. disease/drug awareness and self-medication questionnaire. Prescriptions were analyzed based on World Health Organization prescribing indicators.

RESULTS: A total of 118 FBD patients were enrolled and the common disorder was functional constipation (94/118, 79.7%). Number of males (77/118, 65%) was greater than females (41/118, 34%). In disease awareness (98/118, 83%), patients opined that FBD occurs frequently and agreed that medications can treat FBD. In treatment awareness (106/118, 90%), patients were aware about the importance of drug compliance, but only (10/118, 9%) knew the adverse effects. In prescription patterns, a total of 311 medications were prescribed. A total of 173 medications were primary drugs for FBD. Laxatives were the common class (98/138, 68.9%) prescribed with polyethylene glycol (77/138, 55.7%) as the most common drug prescribed for functional constipation. A total of 28/118 (23.7%) patients' self-medicated prior to visiting the current OPD.

CONCLUSIONS: FBD patients were aware of the dosing schedule and consulted their treating doctor but awareness regarding drug name, and adverse effects was poor among the patients. Laxative-polyethylene glycol was the common drug prescribed. Only less than 1/4 th of patients resorted to self-medication commonly with herbal remedies.