Self-medication among medical students

Abstract

The general objective of this research was to know the prevalence of self-medication among medical students at a public university. This was a qualitative cross-sectional study carried out with students from different periods of the medical course in the municipality of Mossoró in Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, and was approved by the Research Ethics Committee with Opinion number 3.786.118/2019. A questionnaire was applied to 110 students from different periods, containing fifteen closed questions. The collected data were tabulated and organized in a SPSS program file and submitted to descriptive statistical analysis, based on absolute and relative frequencies. The results identified that the use of self-medication is high, especially among women. Only 11.8% of participants have not self-medicated in the past year. The most commonly used medications are analgesics, anti-inflammatories, and antibiotics. The factors that influence the practice of self-medication are family, friends, pharmacists, pharmacy clerks, the internet and others. It is concluded that the rate of self-medication in the university environment is worrying, and preventive measures are needed in order to inform the risks of the use of self-medication and its adverse effects on health.