Regresar

Epidemiological behavior of self-medication and polipharmacy in adults from Dalia de Fernández's area

Abstract:

Background: Self-medication and polymedication are the patterns of major drug consumption within the irrational use of drugs. Both practices have become a worldwide health problem, constituting a potential risk to the subjects who practice them. The objective of this research is to estimate the frequency and describe the major factors associated with self-medication and polypharmacy in adults of Dalia de Fernandez sector, San Francisco municipality, Zulia state. Materials and Methods: Descriptive not experimental, cross-sectional, randomized, study carried out on 102 subjects of both genders over 30 years through a single-stage cluster sampling. Individuals were excluded if they met near pharmacies and medical offices, as well as pregnant patients. For statistical analysis, qualitative variables were expressed as absolute and relative frequencies using Chisquare test to determine association. Quantitative variables were expressed as Median, percentiles 25th and 75th, determining differences through the Mann Whitney U-test, considering statistically significant p<0.05. Results: In the general population, 36.3% (n=37) were male and 63.7% (n=65) were women. The total self-medicated individuals was 82.4% (n=84), to classify women by sex showed a frequency of 64.3% (n=54) and 35.7% men (n=30). In this group of subjects the most used drugs were analgesics with 39.47%, the main effect was upset stomach (10.7%). Moreover, the frequency polymedication was 13.7% (n=14) in the general population, but in individuals older than 60 years was 27.8% (n=10), the main factor associated was the number pathological conditions (χ2=23.26, p<0.00001). Conclusions: Both the self-medication and polymedication are high frequency practices in our area that deserves preventive measures by health staff to help manage consumption and thus avoid potential adverse effects.