Medication misuse in India: a major public health issue in India

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In India, it has been estimated that 50% of family spending on healthcare is on unnecessary medications or investigations. This, combined with the wide availability of medications, has seemingly contributed to increasing rates of antibiotic resistance and further impoverishment. In this literature review, we aim to characterize the extent of misuse and describe underlying factors contributing to the misuse of medication in India. METHODS: This literature review included relevant articles published after 2000 that assessed medication use and misuse in India. A narrative review framework was used to analyse each article, confirm its inclusion, extract relevant information and group..