Exploring the Factors Behind OTC Drug Abuse: A Data-Driven Approach

Over-The-Counter (OTC) drug abuse is rising practically everywhere in the world. OTC Drugs are not only limited to allergic reactions but some severe side effects can be produced in your body. These effects might go unrecognizable and later prove extremely hazardous. To solve this problem in a real-world scenario, our research will play a significant role in comprehending the causes, uses, and effects of OTC Medications. It will help individuals gain insights, knowledge, and focused awareness about the drugs before using them. To have a thorough grasp of the aspects connected to the consumption of OTC pharmaceuticals, our research took into consideration many medical aspects like the frequency of OTC drug intake in various settings. With the help of a self-developed questionnaire, 170 responses were collected. Ironically, 51.8% of respondents refuse consulting doctors because they believe their illness can be self-treated, even though 84.1% of them believe that consuming OTC drugs might be hazardous. The paper focuses on the most efficient ways to analyze data by performing univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses and then deriving synthesized and meaningful findings to develop crisp models. Additionally, the concocted dataset was then followed through the pre-processing stage. Finally, data was grinned towards data modeling using logistic regression and Exploratory Data Analysis. The primary objective of this paper is to provide a detailed synopsis of socio-demographic factors, intake, and analytical view according to the data, that can be adopted against this pressing worldwide problem.