Survey of Over-The-Counter drugs used by pharmacy and medicine students in a private university in São Paulo/SP

Abstract

Over the counter medicines (OTC) are part of a category of drugs that can be sold directly to a consumer without requirement for a prescription: the user can purchase without any guidance from a health professional, because they are within their reach to obtain through self-service. The present quantitative study with a descriptive and transversal character raised data referring to the use of the over the counter medicines by pharmacy and medicine students from the first to the fourth year of a private university in the city of São Paulo to analyze the prevalence of self-medication and identify the main medication used. The study was carried out by applying a structured questionnaire with 12 mandatory question. 257 pharmacy and medicine students were interviewed with the predominant age group between 18 and 22 years old 56.8% (n= 146), with the female gender being 84.8% (n= 218) preeminent. The practice of self-medication was occasionally present in 81.7% (n= 210), while 16% (n= 41) reported a lot of frequency, referring to the biggest complaint as headaches 81.7% (n= 210) and dipyrone 58.4% (n= 150) pointed out as the most used. Only 0.4% (n= 1) referred to self-medication as “never effective” justifying the reason that OTC are so widespread among these courses and pointing out the need for greater awareness of these students in the health area, in order to prevent unrestrained practice from being transmitted to the general population.