Prevalence and characteristics of self-medication among older adults living in Commune 11 of Buenos Aires, Argentina

Natali Paola Flores Uscamayta, Cynthia Isabel Cadima, Nara Nohely Zambrano Holguin, Rosalía Terán Arnez, Jenny Rosemary Geisse Vyhmeister and Carlos Jesús Canova-Barrios

Salud Integral y Comunitaria, 2025, vol. 3, 199-199

Abstract: Introduction: Self-medication is defined as the use of drugs of one's own choice without a medical indication. Older adults are at greater risk of self-medication because they tend to have multiple chronic conditions and the large number of medications they take can lead to drug-drug interactions. Objective: To describe the prevalence and characteristics of self-medication in adults aged 60 to 75 years in the 11th Municipality of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires during the period between April and May 2024. Methods: Descriptive, cross-sectional and quantitative study. An ex profeso instrument consisting of 26 closed questions was used. Results: A total of 104 older adults aged between 60 and 75 years were interviewed. Most of them were female (60.58%) and had a chronic underlying disease (66.35%). The prevalence of self-medication was 74.04%. The ailments/pain that motivated self-medication were musculoskeletal pain (87.01%) and fever (63.64%), and consequently the most used drugs were analgesics (94.81%). When asked about the effects of the drugs, 98.70% reported improvements in their symptoms and generally no adverse reactions (80.52%). Conclusions: The high prevalence of self-medication among older adults is mainly due to difficulties in getting appointments for medical check-ups. Although most respondents reported improvements in their health and few adverse effects, these findings highlight the need to improve access to medical care and to promote responsible use of medicines.

Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:dbk:sicomu:2025v3a11

DOI: 10.62486/sic2025199

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