Prevalência da automedicação no Brasil: uma revisão

Abstract

Self-medication is the practice of using over-the-counter medications, consisting of the choice and use of medications to treat self-diagnosed illness or symptoms. It is defined by the use of at least one drug which has not been prescribed by a doctor or dentist, this is, indicated by a pharmacist, pharmacy clerk or other persons. It is a common practice that can bring about undesirable effects, aggravation and / or masking of diseases, pharmacological interactions between medications and errors in doses, can lead to intoxication or even poisoning. The present research seeks to perform an analysis of the problems related to self-medication through the identification of the prevalence of self-medication in Brazil, proposing to perform a bibliographic review through studies found in a scientific electronic database. A review of the literature was carried out between May and June 2017 by two independent researchers, using the Electronic Electronic Library (SCIELO) electronic database, using the descriptor: Automedicação AND Brasil. Articles published between January 1997 and June 2017, articles that had open access - free complete text in any language, made in Brazil with a focus on selfmedication, were considered eligible. Duplicates, review articles, editorials, quick communication, book review and short story were excluded. Two researchers evaluated the articles obtained, using the predefined eligibility and exclusion criteria, and there were no disagreements between them. Of the 92 studies found, 17 met the criteria of selection and exclusion, presenting a very heterogeneous form: 9 cross-sectional studies, 3 descriptive studies, 2 cross-sectional studies, 2 epidemiological studies and 1 observational study. The studies were mainly concentrated in the South and Southeast regions. As a result, selfmedication was found to be 10 to 35% for the adult population, 8% for the elderly, 16% for prenatal pregnant women, 75% for children and 76% among university students. The selfmedication profile is: young adults (mostly female, aged between 16 and 45 years old, with higher schooling and income), children (self-medicated by mothers, mainly administered analgesics, antipyretics and anti-inflammatories) and university students ( Women aged 18 to 29 from the health area). The drugs used were: analgesics, antipyretics and anti-inflammatories, and the reasons for its use were: headache, influenza, migraine, myalgia, unspecified fever, common cold and unspecified dorsalgia. It is concluded that in the last 20 years, there has been an increase in the prevalence of self-medication in the Brazilian population, but the profile of people who use non-prescription drugs has not changed