Automedicação: comportamento de um grupo de estudantes de saúde no ensino superior / Self-medication: behavior of a group of health students in higher education

ABSTRACT

Introduction: In developed countries, self-medication has become a common practice, especially where over-the-counter medication is possible. Self-medication is considered one of the main public health problems. Aim: To characterize the profile of a group of students in health higher education, in relation to self-medication during their academic career. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive exploratory study, framed in the quantitative paradigm. 285 students from the Nursing Degree and Physiotherapy Degree courses, a stratified sample, from a private Higher School of Health in northern Portugal, participated. A structured questionnaire was used to gather the necessary information for the study, the data collection period was from October to December 2017. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS - version 24), using descriptive statistics techniques (univariate and bivariate). Results and Discussion: Participated predominantly female students, with an average age of 21 years. They resort to self-medication, and on their own initiative. The most commonly used drugs were analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, which were consumed for short periods. The results obtained with the study are in line with others developed in the area. Conclusions: Students self-medicate and base their decision making with knowledge in pharmacology. These results are important for the population where the study was conducted. It is suggested to approach non-pharmacological interventions to treat pain cause that stood out for self-medication

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