Self-medication in advanced students of a Medical Degree from the UNNE Faculty of Medicine

Abstract

Self-medication is considered one of the most important causal factors of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and represents a public health problem for causing a significant percentage of hospitalizations. In addition, it can occur in people with different degrees of education, with different levels of knowledge. Since current students in the near future will prescribe and advise on the correct use of medications, it generated in us the idea of investigating the prevalence of self-medication in them and other associated factors. The study was descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional in medical students in their fourth and fifth year of study. The data was collected anonymously through a Google form, which was submitted online. A database was created and analyzed with the Epi Info software. 95.6% reported self-medication at least once in the last 12 months. The largest source of information used was own knowledge (60.4%). The most frequent adverse effects were gastrointestinal and to a lesser extent dermatological and neurological. The group of drugs that had the highest frequency were NSAIDs (64.8%), followed by antibiotics (24.1%) and psychotropic drugs (11.1%). The predominance of self-medication with analgesics leads us to reflect on the appearance of RAMs, and also the indiscriminate use of antibiotics that facilitate the appearance of bacterial resistance. We consider it important to achieve a change of habit, involving teachers to declaim responsible self-care during their student stage.