Patterns and Factors Associated with Self-Medication among the Pediatric Population in Romania

Abstract

Background and objectives: Self-medication is a global phenomenon in both developed and emerging countries. At present, data regarding the practice, patterns, and factors associated with self-medication in Romanian patient groups of various ages and health are relatively scarce. A pilot study that uses a questionnaire was conducted to observe the attitudes as well as the behaviors of a group of Romanian parents related to self-medication, specifically their beliefs and perceived risks of the administration of medicine to their children without medical advice, frequency of self-medications, symptoms, and types of medications most commonly used without medical advice. Materials and Methods: The questionnaire was sent via e-mail or WhatsApp link on a mobile phone using the existing data at the general practitioner’s office together with the protection of data form and the informed consent form; some participants completed the questionnaire when they came for a regular visit at the general practitioner’s office. Of 246 applied questionnaires, we had a rate of responses of 98%. Results: We found a high percentage (70%) of parents who self-medicate their children. The data reveals a significant relation between parents’ beliefs on self-medication and their tendency to administrate drugs to their children without medical advice. A significant relation was also found between the likelihood of parental self-medication for their children and the number of illnesses experienced by their children over the six-month period prior to the survey. Even when parents have a correct understanding of self-medication risks, these are not aligned with actual behavior; therefore, parents continue to administer drugs to their children without medical advice. Conclusions: Our study helps to describe the patterns of parents’ decisions about self-medicating their children and to identify parents who are more predisposed to administering self-medication to their children.

Evaluation of parents' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding self-medication for their children’s dental problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional survey

“…In the current study, mothers (73.3%) were generally the parents who accompanied the children. This finding clearly shows that women are more likely than fathers to follow up with medical and dental appointments regarding the health of their children and is similar to the results of other studies [ 20 , 22 , 24 , 26 – 28 ].…”

“…The prevalence of SM practices for children was previously found to be 70% in the Romanian population [ 20 ], 58% in Pakistan [ 22 ], 56.6% in Brazil [ 9 ], 53.8% in Turkey [ 23 ], 45% in Denmark [ 24 ], and 25.2% in Germany [ 8 ]. This study result agrees with that reported by Tarciuc et al [ 20 ], but the observed prevalence is higher than that reported in other studies [ 8 , 9 , 22 , 24 ]. In addition, our result is higher than Yazici et al’s study that evaluated parental self-medication in children with upper respiratory tract infection in Turkey [ 23 ].…”

“…This study followed established guidelines for reporting medical surveys [ 19 ]. The researchers designed the questionnaire by adapting questions from previous surveys [ 20 , 21 ]. A prequestionnaire was administered to 10 patients of similar ages with the aim of detecting comprehension problems and to assess if the questions responded to the research aims.…”

Self-Medication with Antibiotics for Protection against COVID-19: The Role of Psychological Distress, Knowledge of, and Experiences with Antibiotics

“…Self-medication with antibiotics is defined as an inappropriate and irrational antimicrobial use, whereby individuals treat self-diagnosed symptoms/illnesses without prescriptions, medical advice, and supervision [4,7]. Research has shown that self-medication with antibiotics is widely practised, even in developed countries with advanced healthcare systems and strict regulations [4,[8][9][10][11][12][13].…”

Caudal Duplication Syndrome Systematic Review—A Need for Better Multidisciplinary Surgical Approach and Follow-Up

“…Spinal malformations such as myelomeningocele can lead to lower limb paralysis. The goal of management plan is to reduce disability early on by implementing bowel management programs in cases with low continence potential and the need for robust transitional care arrangements to enable continued management in adulthood [19,23]. The process of transition should start in early adolescence and the adult care provider who will assume care of the patient should be identified early in the process, when possible [3].…”