Automedicación para la Covid 19 en los estudiantes de Bioquímica y Farmacia, Riobamba

Abstract

This study determined the perceptions and level of knowledge of students at Biochemistry and Pharmacy major regarding self-medication with drugs related to COVID-19 in Riobamba city. To achieve this, the use of medications related to COVID-19 was identified according to the pharmacological group, frequency, dose, routes of administration and adverse reactions. Being a descriptive study, a survey in Google forms was used as a research tool, it was applied on a population of 168 students. As a result, 118 (70%) women and 50 (30%) men agree that despite the fact that 65% knew the symptoms, only 48% (81) students performed a confirmatory test, where 33% of them, (27) participants, tested positive and 7 had reinfection. In both situations, the main symptoms were 100% headache, fever and general malaise, minor symptoms and difficulty obtaining access to a health center, these were the predominant causes for 30% of the students to choose self-medication, the drugs administered were paracetamol, ibuprofen, ivermectin and azithromycin; 7% had mainly gastrointestinal adverse reactions. In conclusion, the difficulty in accessing to health system and the mildness of symptoms influenced students to self-medicate with oral drugs, mainly analgesics (paracetamol), although a small group, after searching for information in scientific articles, administered antiparasitic (ivermectin) and antibiotic (azithromycin) whose side effects in 7% included gastrointestinal and neuropsychiatric problems that ceased after discontinuing of the dosage, so it is recommended for further studies to increase the size of the population in order to have a better criterion on the perceptions of people in the consumption of over-the-counter medications.