WHAT IS YOUR IMPORTANCE: HEALTH OR ILLNESS - A COMMUNITY SURVEY REPORT
Chronic medical conditions have become prominent in adult populations in rural areas and the prevalence is expected to increase in morbidity due to changes in occurrence of disease pattern. Fail to refill the prescription when necessary will lead to use of over the counter (OTC) medications which are responsible for occurrence of morbidity. The main objective is to bring awareness on commonly encountering diseases, their life style modifications, proper medication use. The study was conducted among the individuals of age group 25-80 years staying at Thullur region by distributing the questionnaire which includes both family and individual questions on their hereditary diseases, immunization schedule, and malnourished in children among their family, present and past disease history, medication taking behavior, dietary habits and restrictions followed by the individuals, who are interested in answering the questionnaire by taking their consent. The response was then analyzed to assess the knowledge on immunization, balanced diet and medication usage pattern. After the interpretation of data, it was found that, people in the rural areas are taking unbalanced diet and irrationally using medications which are the route causes for increase in prevalence of diseases. It is the role of the pharmacist to bring awareness on dietary habits, life style modifications for chronic diseases with an appropriate use of medication which promotes their quality of life.