Abstract

FAJARDO-ZAPATA, Alvaro L. et al. Automédication with antibiotics: public health problem. Salud, Barranquilla [online]. 2013, vol.29, n.2, pp.226-235. ISSN 0120-5552.

Objective: To explore the consumption of antibiotics without medical prescription in Bogota's adult population. Material and methods: Descriptive exploratory cross-sectional study carried out in 20 locations of Bogotá, where 597 people older than 20 years were surveyed. Results: We found that 56.10% of respondents self-medicated, being women (60%), those who come to this practice. The antibiotic most used was the amoxicillin (50.9%), followed by the ampicillin (18.6%). The most commonly described pathologies were throat infections (31.70%), flu (22.20%), fever and malaise (10.80%), and urinary tract infections (7.50%). Most people take antibiotics (50.0%) for one and two days. 82.60% consumed more than the indicated dosage of antibiotic. Only 13.20% of those surveyed said they demanded was made to sell the drug. Conclusions: Self-prescription of antibiotics is a common practice for various pathological processes or symptoms, and often people resort to informal channels to obtain information about them and drugstores where they are sold without requesting a formal medical prescription.

Keywords : antibiotic premedication; self-prescription.

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