Fatores associados às práticas de automedicação em pacientes com queixas orais

Abstract

Self-medication is the selection and consumption of medications by individuals to treat self-recognized illnesses or symptoms, and it presents itself in dental practice as an alternative to overcome the negative impacts caused by the impairment of the stomatognathic system. In this sense, the objective of this study was to analyze the factors that motivate self-medication in detriment to professional clinical evaluation in patients affected by oral conditions. The study design was observational, cross- sectional, and retrospective. It was conducted from July 2022 to July 2023 and included a total of 143 participants, who were waiting for care in the waiting rooms of the Clinics of the School of Dentistry at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Governador Valadares Campus. Data collection was carried out through a pre-structured questionnaire composed of sixteen questions, developed by the authors based on similar studies. The data collection instrument assessed sociodemographic data, such as age range, gender, education level, and income. Clinical variables were also analyzed, including frequency of access to dental services, main complaint, the indicated specialty for the case, and the treatment performed, as well as factors associated with self-medication, such as whether or not the practice was undertaken, whom the patient consulted before consuming the medication, where they acquired it, the motivation for using self-prescribed medications, and the effectiveness of pharmacological treatment. Sample size calculation was performed using G*Power software and statistical analysis was conducted with JASP software, utilizing the Chi- square test and the T-test. The level of statistical significance was set at p ≤ 0.05. Self- medication was reported by 46.8% of the sample. The most commonly consumed medication classes for resolving oral complaints were analgesics (62.3%), followed by anti-inflammatories (41.8%), and finally antibiotics (11.9%). No association was found between the practice of self-medication and sociodemographic variables. The practice of self-medication was associated with the clinical complaint of pain (p < 0.001) and with the search for urgent dental care (p = 0.04). The consumption of analgesics was associated with urgent care (p = 0.02) and the complaint of pain (p < 0.001), while the consumption of anti-inflammatories was associated with urgent clinics (p = 0.01) and reports of pain (p = 0.05). It was possible to observe an association between the consumption of analgesics and patients with lower income (p = 0.03). The results of this study indicate that self-medication is motivated by the clinical complaint of pain and is related to the search for urgent care.