Self-medication practice of university students of South Brazil and its implications during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study

COVID-19 pandemic promoted some lifestyle changes because of the disease’s contagiousness and the urgency for treatments. Among these is the self-medication (SM)—the consume of medicines without a prescription—that was practiced for population aiming protection or cure of coronavirus infection. Our study aimed to evaluate the practice of self-medication among undergraduate students in southern Brazil and how the pandemic period influenced it. Through an online questionnaire applied in 2020, 1553 responses were collected. The results were analyzed using the chi-square test and Poisson test. A prevalence of 97.2% of self-medication was found during the regular period of life, but during the pandemic, this rate significantly decreased to 57.2%. Most students practiced SM before the pandemic and continued during this period (58.7%), while a significant portion of the sample stopped self-medicating during the pandemic (41.3%). Being female, studying at a public university, perceiving a decline in health status, and noticing new symptoms or diseases during the pandemic were associated with a lower probability of stopping SM. Conversely, living alone during the pandemic was associated with a higher probability of discontinuing SM. Headache was the most frequently reported symptom. The sources of information varied, but consulting the internet, family or friends’ opinions, and pharmacists were the most cited. Different reasons for SM were identified, but the most prevalent justification was having experienced the symptom before and knowing what medication to use. Despite being one of the groups most affected by the pandemic, university students showed varied behavior when it came to self-medication, demonstrating continued consumption of medicines but also a reduction in this practice. These data help identify behavioral changes promoted by stressful periods such as the COVID-19 pandemic and provide opportunities to implement health education actions to reinforce self-medication’s danger.