[Do the patients medicate themselves correctly?]. / Se automedican correctamente los pacientes?

OBJECTIVE: To find the main pathologies which give rise to self-medication, the most commonly used pharmacological groups, how these drugs are obtained and the correctness of their instructions. DESIGN: Observation study of a crossover type. SETTING: An urban Health Centre. PATIENTS AND OTHER PARTICIPANTS: 396 patients, who attended during the months of February and March 1993 with requests for medication or who were already taking something, were selected at random--95% Confidence Interval with 0.049 exactness. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: 76% attended when they were already taking medication, a percentage which was significantly lower among elderly people (p < 0.001). The most common pharmacological groups were analgesics (32.6%), antibiotics (19.9%) and antiflu drugs (17.6%); and the most common pathologies were respiratory conditions with or without temperature (26.2% and 32.3% respectively). Self-medication was correct in 75.5% of cases. It was least correct for antibiotics and vitamins and in descriptions of asthenia, where, in turn, demand was more frequent than self-consumption (p < 0.001). The main reason for taking medication was its previous medical prescription (38.64%). CONCLUSIONS: Patients correctly use the commonest medicines used in primary care, especially if they have been prescribed before. This suggests the importance of daily health education for each prescription, especially for the most common pathologies.

[An epidemiological study on mental health in a health area]. / Estudio epidemiológico en salud mental en una zona de salud.

To identify the prevalence of psychological abnormalities in the adult population of the Valdefierro Health Area, we carried out an epidemiological study following the methodology of the cross sectional two-phase study. A random sample of 400 individuals, stratified for age and sex, was selected from the population over 15 years of age. In a first phase, the GHQ positive individuals underwent the semistructured interview Clinical Interview Schedule (CIS). The prevalence of psychological distress detected by the GHQ questionnaire was 13.4%. There was a significant association between psychological distress and female gender, educational level, working status, marital status and use of health care services. 42 of the 51 GHQ positive cases (82%) were considered as psychiatric conditions by the CIS. This represents a 11% prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the evaluated sample.

[Results and evaluation of a pilot study for the implementation of a program of preventive activities in primary health care]. / Resultados y valoración de un ensayo piloto para la implantación de un programa de actividades preventivas en atención primaria.

Following the guidelines for preventive and health promoting activities in Primary Health Care presented by the S.E.M.F.Y.C., we developed a study to evaluate the adequacy of the parallel nurse clinic for their implementation. 209 individuals (94 males and 115 females, mean age 36,4 +/- 13 years) were included in the study. The results showed a remarkably high prevalence of risk factors in the study series and a good acceptance of the program by the users. The opportunistic screening by means of a referral to a nurse clinic was shown to be an adequate strategy for the development of the program, with a multimplicator effect on the whole of nursing activities to be evaluated at the time of planning their implementation rate.