OBJECTIVE：To provide reference for improving propaganda level and effect of rational drug use. METHODS： Questionnaire survey was designed to investigate the recognition， attitude and demand of consumers in retail pharmacies， students in parts of pharmaceutical universities and their parents and patients in parts of hospitals in more than 10 provinces （autonomous regions and municipalities） for propaganda of rational drug use， and the results were statistically significant. RESULTS： The questionnaires ranged from 100 to 2 000 in each province （autonomous region and municipality）， and totally 11 700 questionnaires were sent out， 11 490 were received with recovery of 98.2％； 10 980 were effectively received with effective recovery of 95.6％. 78.4％ respondents heard of the concept of rational drug use， proportion of young and middle-aged people in 18-44 years old was significantly higher than other age group， the proportion was significantly increased by the improvement of education， and the proportion of people closer to the city was higher（P＜0.001）； the respondents who can fully understand the content of the propaganda accounted for 22.7％， while higher education held higher proportion on “fully understand”， and people closer to the city held higher proportion on “fully understand” and “partially understand”（P＜0.001）； only 9.5％ respondents could fully trust propaganda activity， proportion of choosing “partially trust” was generally increased by the improvement of education（P＜0.001）； and 69.1％ respondents hoped to obtain relevant knowledge， people who had more purchase frequencies showed stronger willing（P＜0.001）； the top 3 preferences of respondents for propaganda forms were “face to face guidance from physicians and pharmacists”， “reading drug instructions” and “reading professional books”. CONCLUSIONS： With insufficient recognition on rational use of drugs， coverage of propaganda about rational drug use needs further expand， public understanding of propaganda contents about rational drug use is fairly limited and people’s trust level towards propaganda is not high， but the public has strong desires to obtain the knowledge about rational drug use. Therefore， various means should be adopted to improve the effects on propaganda of rational drug use.