Background: Self medication is a public health concern at global level considering the rise of drug resistance cases. There are no published studies in India regarding the burden of self medication among Non medical workers employed at a private health care institute. So this study was undertaken with the following objectives: (1) To know morbidity profile and to find out preferential condition for self medication, (2) To identify the portal of access to drugs for self medication among the Non medical workers employed at a private health care institute. Materials and Methods: An interview based descriptive cross sectional study was conducted among the Non medical workers employed at a prominent private health care institute of Mangalore city. Non-medical workers were assessed for their: (1) Morbidity (health condition suffered in last one year) status, (2) Preferential health condition for self-medication and (3) Portal of access to drugs for self medication. The data was analysed using SPSS Software for windows, version 16.0. The results are presented as frequencies and proportions in appropriate tables. Results: Three hundred twenty Non medical workers had participated in the study. More than half (53.8%) of the respondents were between 25 to < 45 years age group. Respiratory illness was common (44.7%) reported health condition in them. More than half (53.3%) of them had self medicated prior to their interview and it was preferred for pain (40.6%) and cold (34.7%). Retail pharmacy outlets were preferred (46.9%) for procuring medicines for self medication. Conclusion: Self medication was prevalent in Non medical workers and it decreased with their duration. There is an urgent need to regulate the retail pharmacy outlet in Mangaluru to prevent the illegal dispensation of drugs to curb self-medication.
Key words: Non-medical workers, Self-medication, Morbidity, Private health care institute.