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Self-Medication during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil: Findings and Implications to Promote the Rational Use of Medicines.

Patrícia Silva BazoniRonaldo José FariaFrancisca Janiclecia Rezende CordeiroÉlida da Silva TimóteoAlciellen Mendes da SilvaAna Luisa HorsthEduardo Frizzera MeiraJéssica Barreto Ribeiro Dos SantosMichael Ruberson Ribeiro da Silva
Published in: International journal of environmental research and public health (2023)
Self-medication is identified by the consumption of medications without a prescription or guidance from a qualified prescribing professional. This study estimated the prevalence, profile, and associated factors with self-medication during the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted through a household survey in the Alegre city, from November to December 2021. Descriptive analysis was performed for the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the interviewees. Poisson regression with robust variance was used to identify the association of sociodemographic and clinical variables with self-medication. A total of 654 people were interviewed, of whom 69.4% were self-medicating. The younger age group (PR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.01-1.26), female gender (PR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.04-1.37), consumption of alcoholic beverages (PR = 1.13; 95% CI = 1.01-1.25), and problems with adherence to pharmacological treatment (PR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.04-1.28) were associated with self-medication, while the occurrence of polypharmacy (PR = 0.80; 95% CI = 0.68-0.95) was a protective factor for self-medication. Self-medication was directly related to over-the-counter drugs, with analgesics dipyrone and paracetamol being the most commonly used. Self-medication consumption of prescription drugs, including those under special control, was identified to a lesser extent.
Keyphrases
  • adverse drug
  • healthcare
  • mental health
  • primary care
  • risk factors
  • physical activity
  • emergency department
  • type diabetes
  • metabolic syndrome
  • cross sectional
  • drug induced
  • combination therapy