Profile of drugs used by university students for self-medication in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: A scoping review
Abstract A significant increase in self-medication was observed during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, especially among university students due to their higher level of knowledge and awareness, making them more prone to self-medication. Therefore, in this scoping review we aimed to understand the profile o...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universidade de São Paulo
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Brazilian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1984-82502025000100809&lng=en&tlng=en |
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| Summary: | Abstract A significant increase in self-medication was observed during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, especially among university students due to their higher level of knowledge and awareness, making them more prone to self-medication. Therefore, in this scoping review we aimed to understand the profile of medications used for self-medication among university students during the pandemic, both for COVID-19 prevention and other reasons. We followed the PRISMA-ScR guidelines in conducting the review. The PICo guiding question was, “What is the profile of medications used for self-medication during the COVID-19 pandemic among university students?” Searches were conducted in the Scielo, PubMed, Embase, EBSCOhost, Web of Science, Scopus, BVS, Google Scholar, and CAPES databases based on MESH and DeCS descriptors. A total of 35 studies were selected, with eight (22.8%) reporting self-medication for COVID-19 prevention/treatment ranging from 14-83%, four (11.4%) reporting self-medication for specific symptoms ranging from 11-95%, 19 (54.4%) reporting several reasons for students self-medicating with a range of 50-100%, and four (11.4%) studies not specifying the reason for medication use in self-medication varying from 3-93%. The included studies revealed that the irrational use of medications is a common practice among university students, with varied prevalence of self-medication observed in this population during the COVID-19 pandemic. |
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| ISSN: | 2175-9790 |