Trabalho, Educação e Saúde - TES (Work, Education and Health) is an open access scientific journal, edited by the Joaquim Venâncio Polytechnic School of Health, from Oswaldo Cruz Foundation.
Self-medication exposes individuals to risks such as adverse reactions, intoxications, drug interactions, therapeutic failures and medication errors. In the COVID-19 pandemic, there was an increase in the purchase and consumption of pharmaceutical products by Brazilians. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to assess the prevalence of self-medication among university students, as well as the incidence and increase in practice during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has a cross-sectional and quantitative design, with 248 students from a university center in Zona da Mata, Minas Gerais. The findings show that 67.3% of the participants reported self-medication, 28.7% indicated an increase in self-medication during the pandemic and 30.9% indicated its initiation during this period. There was a significant difference regarding considering oneself capable of self-medication, having the habit of recommending medication to other people and consuming them at the recommendation of others. For those who increased the practice of self-medication during the pandemic, there was an association with the habit of recommending medication to other people. For those who started this practice in the pandemic period, the ability to self-medicate was associated. Thus, the results pave the way for educational measures on the irrational use of medication among higher education students, regardless of the area of training.
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https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2307-2221