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Universidad y Salud
Print version ISSN 0124-7107On-line version ISSN 2389-7066
Abstract
ALVIZ-AMADOR, Antistio; BASTOS-ZAYAS, Hermides and GARCIA-VALDELAMAR, Juan. Over-the-counter medication consumption habits in health students from Cartagena-Colombia. Univ. Salud [online]. 2023, vol.25, n.2, pp.9-18. Epub May 05, 2023. ISSN 0124-7107. https://doi.org/10.22267/rus.232502.300.
Introduction:
Over-the-counter (OTC) medications are widely used worldwide, however they are responsibly used only in countries with legalized professional community pharmacies.
Objective:
To describe over-the-counter medication use habits in university students from health programs.
Materials and methods:
Descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in three universities from Cartagena. A survey-type instrument was applied to 140 students, asking about their use habits and knowledge regarding OTC, beliefs, attitudes and practices.
Results:
The questionnaire showed a high internal inconsistency, with a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.77. 59% of participants were women aged between 16 to 30 years old and 91% agreed that self-medication is harmful. Nevertheless, 61% self-medicated because of minor and frequent conditions. OTC medications with the highest use were acetaminophen (52.9%) and NSAIDs (16.48%).
Conclusions:
Even though students are aware of the self-medication risks, they still practice it frequently. Many participants reported the use of medications such as amitriptyline, antibiotics, opioids, furosemide, and corticosteroids.
Keywords : OTC drugs; Self-medication; acetaminophen; NSAIDs.