Evaluation of automedication between medical students in a teaching institution from Alagoas

Abstract

The drug use of chemicals in modern society has gradually grown. In this context, the practice of self-medication by professionals and academics in the health field has been increasingly frequent, leading to a concern when evaluating abusive use of psychoactive drugs. From this problematic, relevant to Public Health, it is important to develop ways and methods that can guide carefully the indiscriminate use of medicines. Objective: Evaluate the practice of self-medication and the particularities attributed to it among medical students of a higher education institution. This is a cross-sectional descriptive study with a quantitative approach carried out at CESMAC University Center through questionnaires applied to medical students. Of the 9 groups available to perform the research, all had the data collected and their results interpreted from databases created using the Microsoft Office Excel program. Results: 280 volunteers reported using self-medication, which was mostly anti-inflammatory and only 4 people reported using methylphenidate on their own before the tests. Conclusion: It is evident that the habit of self-medication improperly entails undesirable consequences and in masking of evolutionary diseases, which is, therefore, an activity to be prevented, as well as the rational use of medicines and the recommendation of a specialized professional should be emphasized.