Automedicação nos estudantes do ensino superior da saúde

Background: self-medication involves the use of medications to treat self-diagnosed disorders or symptoms, or the intermittent or continued use of medication prescribed by a doctor for chronic treatment or recurrent illnesses or symptoms. Objectives: characterize the practice of self-medication in higher health education students. Methodology: quantitative and descriptive study. Sample composed by 301 students. Data were collected using a questionnaire and data analysis was performed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Results: the prevalence of self-medication is 93.4% in students of higher health education. The most frequent signs and symptoms were headache (29.8%), dysmenorrhea (13.5%) and fever (9.9%). The most used drugs were analgesics/ antipyretics (34.6%), anti-inflammatories (29.2%), vitamins and minerals (7.4%). Conclusion: self-medication among higher education students is high, it is crucial to address this issue throughout the course in order to minimize the risks associated with this consumption.