title: Pharmacovigilance, risks and adverse effects of self-medication.
abstract: Self-medication means resorting to one or more drugs in order to treat oneself without the help of a doctor. This phenomenon is developing fast. In this review, we will discuss the main definitions of self-medication; we will then present a few important characteristics of this therapeutic practice: prevalence, reasons, populations involved and drugs used. Whilst the theoretical risks of self-medication have been abundantly discussed in the literature (adverse effects, interactions, product, dosage or treatment duration errors, difficulty in self-diagnosis, risk of addiction or abuse…), there is in fact very little detailed pharmacovigilance data concerning the characteristics and the consequences of this usage in real life. This study therefore describes the all too rare data that is available: patients, clinical characteristics, "seriousness" and drugs involved in the adverse effects of self-medication. It also discusses leads to be followed in order to minimize medication risks, which are obviously not well known and clearly not sufficiently notified.
authors.affiliation: Service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance, pharmacoépidémiologie et informations sur le médicament, pharmacopôle Midi-Pyrénées, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, CIC Inserm 1436, 31000 Toulouse, France; Académie nationale de médecine, 75000 Paris, France. Electronic address: jean-louis.montastruc@univ-tlse3.fr.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Montastruc
authors.affiliation: Service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance, pharmacoépidémiologie et informations sur le médicament, pharmacopôle Midi-Pyrénées, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, CIC Inserm 1436, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Bondon-Guitton
authors.affiliation: Service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance, pharmacoépidémiologie et informations sur le médicament, pharmacopôle Midi-Pyrénées, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, CIC Inserm 1436, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Delphine
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Abadie
authors.affiliation: Service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance, pharmacoépidémiologie et informations sur le médicament, pharmacopôle Midi-Pyrénées, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, CIC Inserm 1436, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Isabelle
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Lacroix
authors.affiliation: Service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance, pharmacoépidémiologie et informations sur le médicament, pharmacopôle Midi-Pyrénées, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, CIC Inserm 1436, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Aurélia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Berreni
authors.affiliation: Service de médecine interne, hôpital Purpan, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Grégory
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pugnet
authors.affiliation: Service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance, pharmacoépidémiologie et informations sur le médicament, pharmacopôle Midi-Pyrénées, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, CIC Inserm 1436, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Geneviève
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Durrieu
authors.affiliation: Service de médecine interne, hôpital Purpan, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sailler
authors.affiliation: Académie nationale de médecine, 75000 Paris, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Giroud
authors.affiliation: Service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance, pharmacoépidémiologie et informations sur le médicament, pharmacopôle Midi-Pyrénées, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, CIC Inserm 1436, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Damase-Michel
authors.affiliation: Service de pharmacologie médicale et clinique, centre Midi-Pyrénées de pharmacovigilance, pharmacoépidémiologie et informations sur le médicament, pharmacopôle Midi-Pyrénées, faculté de médecine, CHU de Toulouse, CIC Inserm 1436, 31000 Toulouse, France.
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Montastruc
mesh_terms: D064420:Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D060735:Pharmacovigilance; D012306:Risk; D012651:Self Medication / Q000009:adverse effects*
keywords: Benzodiazepines; Medical adverse effects; Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs; Painkillers; Pharmacovigilance; Risks; Self-medication