Self-medication in students of the Dentistry Faculty, Inter-American Open University, Buenos Aires

Abstract

Introduction: self-medication is the use of medicines on one's own initiative or on unqualified advice to prevent, alleviate or treat symptoms or mild illnesses that people can identify. Although it is part of self-care, its use must be responsible. It is found more intensely in students of the health sector and its professionals. The objective was to characterize the practice of self-medication in dental students.
Methods: a descriptive, observational, cross-sectional study was conducted in 62 students from the Faculty of Dentistry of the Universidad Abierta Interamericana , Buenos Aires, selected in a non-random manner. The data were obtained through a survey using a Google Forms form, after requesting informed consent.
Results: 62,9 % were female, 86 % engaged in the practice, 47,3 % indicated that they were analgesics; 34,5 % antibiotics, more than half specified having obtained it in a pharmacy (56,4 %; n=31); 45,5 % determined the medication they needed by asking a professional, 45,5 % did not consult a doctor because they considered that their symptoms were not serious enough to go; 63,6 % revealed that the symptom that motivated the above was headache; 32,7 % sore throat and fever.
Conclusions: self-medication is a common practice among students, mainly with analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs, motivated by the appearance of illnesses and infectious processes; it has social, cultural, economic and circumstantial motivations.