title: Self-medication in university students from the city of Rio Grande, Brazil.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Self-medication is the use of medication without prescription, orientation, or supervision of a physician or dentist. Self-medication might become a serious health problem. The purpose of this study was to identify the prevalence and factors associated with self-medication among first and last-year students enrolled in healthcare and non-healthcare programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional study was conducted at Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Of 830 students in the sample, 95% answered the questionnaire - 789 students enrolled in 10 undergraduate programs. Mean age was 22  ±  6.17 years. The students answered a questionnaire covering socio-economic and demographic variables, use of medication, and medication knowledge. Information was collected on the conditions treated with medication, the medications used, and attitude towards self-medication.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 789 students, 86.4% self-medicated (88.5% of 446 healthcare students). There were no significant differences in self-medication between healthcare and non-healthcare students, nor between first and last-year students. Bivariate and multivariate analyses showed a significant association between self-medication and having children (p = 0.01), having a home pharmacy (p < 0.001) and adequate medication knowledge (p = 0.01). The most frequently used active ingredients were acetaminophen (paracetamol), dipyrone, aspirin, phytotherapic compounds, and tea. Illicit drug use was significantly associated with self-medication in the multivariate analysis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The fact that being a healthcare student was associated with higher medication knowledge, but not with less self-medication, suggests that medication knowledge might contribute to increase self-medication. This should be taken into account when designing educational interventions relating to self-medication.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande (FURG), Rua General Osório, s/n Caixa Postal 474, CEP 96201-900 Centro, Rio Grande, RS, Brazil. mariliacorrea@superig.com.br
authors.forename: Marília Garcez
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Corrêa da Silva
authors.forename: Maria Cristina Flores
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Ana Luiza
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Muccillo-Baisch
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012651:Self Medication / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013997:Time Factors; D014495:Universities; D055815:Young Adult