Self-prescription and self-medication in an urban adolescent population

Background: Self-medication is defined as the use of medicinal products on own account or on the recommendation of other persons outside the medical profession. This practice is quite common, and adolescents are a vulnerable group to the effects that it can cause. Material and methods: A descriptive and retrospective cross-sectional observational study was conducted. The sample included schooled adolescents, of both sexes, between 15 and 18 years who attended 4th, 5th and 6th year of secondary school (EES Nº7, EES Nº1 Manuel Dorrego, EES Nº9 (Normal), EES N19, EESA Nº1 "Florencio Molina Campos") in establishments in the city of Junín, Province of Buenos aires. The data collection tool was a voluntary, anonymous, multiple-choice survey open through a Google form. The data was captured and interpreted in tables and graphs in Excel. Results: This work determined that 72,9 % (84) of the adolescents enrolled in school engage in the practice of self-medication, therefore 20,8 % (22) did not. 86,9 % (73) of the adolescents who self-medicated did so for headache, 56 % (47) for fever, 50 % (42) for sore throat. 86,9 % (73) of the adolescents studied consumed ibuprofen, being the most chosen according to their answers. Second, paracetamol is found at 81 % (68. The 63,1 % (53) responded that they did not know the risk of the drugs they consumed, 23,8 % (20) indicated that they had little knowledge about it, while 13,1 % (11) responded that they did. Conclusion: It can be concluded from the previously presented information that most of the adolescents surveyed do not make a responsible use of drugs and have biases for a correct decision making when addressing their medical problem. From a very early age it can be seen that adolescents have been implementing the practice of them. When practiced with such prematurity, they may incur unknown risks by not knowing the specific uses of medicines and consequently obtain a counterproductive result when using them