Self-Medication Practice and Associated Factors Among Health Professionals in Spain
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design and Participants
2.2. Instruments
- (a)
- Sociodemographic aspects: age, gender, profession.
- (b)
- Self-medication practice: prevalence, frequency, duration, reasons for self-medication diseases/symptoms treated, types of drugs used, sources of information about medications and pathologies, and adverse effects.
- (c)
- Knowledge about medication: degree of expertise about dosage, drug interactions, and related dangers
- (d)
- Perception of the effectiveness of and attitudes toward self-medication.
2.3. Procedure
2.4. Statistical Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Sociodemographic Characteristics
3.2. Practice of Self-Medication
3.2.1. Prevalence of Self-Medication
3.2.2. Frequency and Quantity of Medications Consumed by Self-Medication
3.2.3. Reasons for Self-Medication
3.2.4. Sources of Information About Medications and Pathologies
3.2.5. Reasons for Seeking Information on Medications
3.2.6. Sources of Information Consulted by Health Professionals for Self-Medication
3.2.7. Illnesses Treated
3.2.8. Types of Medications Used in Self-Medication by Health Professionals
3.2.9. Sources of Medicines for Self-Medication
3.2.10. Side Effects
3.3. Knowledge About Medications in Health Professionals
3.4. Attitudes Towards Self-Medication in Health Professional
3.5. Opinion on Self-Medication Compared to Medical Consultation to Treat Common Health Problems
3.6. Logistic Regression Model for Self-Medication
4. Discussion
4.1. Gender and Self-Medication
4.2. Age and Self-Medication
4.3. Prevalence and Characteristics of Self-Medication
4.4. Preference for Medical Consultation and Perceived Barriers
4.5. Health Information Seeking and Perception of AI
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Public Involvement Statement
Guidelines and Standards Statement
Use of Artificial Intelligence
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Profession | n | Proportion (%) |
---|---|---|
Nurse | 197 | 45.0 |
Intermediate Technician | 56 | 12.8 |
Higher Technician | 51 | 11.6 |
Physician | 48 | 11 |
Psychologist | 25 | 5.7 |
Physiotherapist | 23 | 5.3 |
Pharmacist | 17 | 3.9 |
Biologist | 10 | 2.3 |
Auxiliary Nursing Care Technician | 3 | 0.7 |
Chriropodist | 3 | 0.7 |
Dentist | 3 | 0.7 |
Veterinarian | 2 | 0.5 |
Duration of Self-Medication | Proportion (%) |
---|---|
Immediately after symptoms disappear | 58.8 |
Depends on the medications | 33.5 |
Depends on the disease | 23.8 |
Some days after the symptoms disappear | 10.0 |
I take it for the long term | 5.0 |
When the medications is depleted | 1.2 |
Within a few days, regardless of the outcome | 1.2 |
Reasons for Self-Medication | Proportion (%) |
---|---|
Mildness of symptoms | 67.3 |
Easy accessibility | 41.2 |
Previous experience with the drug | 40.8 |
Sufficient knowledge about medicines | 40.4 |
Delay in obtaining an appointment at the health center | 30.4 |
Lack of time to attend a doctor’s appointment | 17.7 |
Recommendation from family and friends | 10.8 |
Confidence in the websites or forums consulted | 5.8 |
Confidence in AI tools consulted | 5.4 |
Dissatisfaction with the treatment prescribed by the physician | 4.6 |
Being embarrassed to discuss the symptoms | 1.9 |
Distrust in medical diagnosis | 1.5 |
Advertisement | 0.4 |
Resources | Proportion (%) |
---|---|
Search engines (Google, Bing, Internet Explorer, etc.) | 61.0 |
Health pages | 39.0 |
Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices | 37.1 |
Health forums | 32.7 |
Scientific articles | 25.4 |
Drug applications | 24.4 |
Social networks (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) | 20.5 |
Websites of official health organizations | 20.0 |
Scientific databases (Pubmed, Scielo, etc.) | 19.5 |
Artificial Intelligence (Chat GPT, Bard, You.com, etc.) | 18.0 |
Reasons | Proportion (%) |
---|---|
To resolve any doubts I may have in this regard | 50.2 |
To acquire or reinforce knowledge as part of my professional development. | 40.5 |
To contrast information | 39.0 |
To seek information about the health problem | 36.1 |
I trust the information I find | 32.2 |
Immediacy | 28.8 |
In every group or web page there are very well trained professionals | 14.1 |
I prefer the ease of communication provided by the internet instead of going to a health centre. | 11.7 |
I prefer to consult information with other people who suffer from the same pathology. | 6.8 |
Source | Proportion (%) * |
---|---|
Physician | 60.8 |
Professional Expertise | 42.3 |
Pharmacist | 24.6 |
Medications leaflet | 23.1 |
Websites | 22.3 |
Doctor or other health professionals found through internet search | 16.9 |
Family member, neighbour or friend | 12.3 |
Artificial intelligence | 10.0 |
Social networking sites | 9.2 |
Medical forums | 4.6 |
None | 4.2 |
Books | 2.3 |
Vademecum | 0.8 |
Advertisement | 0.8 |
Nurse | 0.4 |
Symptom/Disease | Proportion (%) * |
---|---|
Aches and pains (headache, menstrual, stomach, joint, low back pain, etc.) | 85.8 |
Flu-like symptoms, colds, fever, coughs | 61.2 |
Heartburn, gastritis, digestive disorders | 24.6 |
Allergies | 21.5 |
Insect bites | 13.8 |
Hangover | 12.3 |
Infections, inflammations | 11.5 |
Psychological problems (insomnia, anxiety, stress, etc.) | 7.7 |
Burns | 7.7 |
Pregnancy prevention/contraception | 5.0 |
Obesity or overweight | 3.1 |
Lack of appetite, decay, exhaustion | 2.7 |
Increase muscle mass | 1.9 |
Skin problems | 1.0 |
Hyperlipemia | 0.5 |
Hypertension | 0.5 |
Type of Drug | Proportion (%) |
---|---|
Analgesics | 80.8 |
Anti-inflammatory | 70.8 |
Stomach protector or antacids | 26.5 |
Antihistamines | 22.3 |
Topical creams | 19.6 |
Vitamins | 14.6 |
Natural drugs | 13.5 |
Anxiolytics | 6.2 |
Contraceptives | 5.8 |
Corticosteroids | 4.6 |
Antibiotics | 4.6 |
Sedatives or hypnotics | 1.9 |
Antidepressants | 1.2 |
Antihypertensives | 0.8 |
Laxatives | 0.8 |
Retinoids | 0.4 |
Lipid lowering agents | 0.4 |
Muscle relaxants | 0.4 |
Side Effect | N (%) |
---|---|
Gastrointestinal problems | 13 (61.9) |
Drowsiness | 3 (14.3) |
Dizziness | 2 (9.5) |
Dry mouth | 1 (4.8) |
Rash | 1 (4.8) |
Masking of the acute illness | 1 (4.8) |
Allergy | 1 (4.8) |
Hormonal disturbances | 1 (4.8) |
Low blood pressure | 1 (4.8) |
Addiction | 1 (4.8) |
Knowledge of… | Total Sample † n = 438 | Do Not Self-Medicate † n = 178 | Self- Medicate † n = 260 | U | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adverse effects of the medications taken | 4 (3–4) | 3 (3–4) | 4 (3–4) | 27,326.0 | 0.001 * |
Recommended dosages | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–5) | 4 (4–5) | 28,261.0 | 0.000 * |
Possible interactions with other medications, food, and/or medicinal plants. | 3 (3–4) | 3 (2–4) | 4 (3–4) | 28,499.5 | 0.000 * |
Possible interactions with drug and/or alcohol consumption | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–4) | 4 (3–5) | 26,719.0 | 0.004 * |
Method of administration | 4 (3–5) | 4 (2–4) | 4 (3–5) | 28,241.0 | 0.000 * |
Variable | Total Simple † n = 438 | Do Not Self-Medicate † n = 178 | Self- Medicate † n = 260 | U | p-Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Level of perception of the effectiveness of self-medication | 3 (2–4) | 3 (2–3) | 4 (3–4) | 33,204.5 | 0.000 * |
The availability and accessibility of over-the-counter medications influences your decision to self-medicate | 4 (2–4) | 4 (2–4) | 4 (3–5) | 23,469.5 | 0.795 |
To what extent confidence in your own knowledge about your health and available treatments influences your decision to self-medicate rather than consult a physician | 4 (3–5) | 4 (3–4) | 4 (4–5) | 28,899.0 | 0.000 * |
To what extent does confidence in the AI’s clinical advice and judgments about your health influence your decision to self-medicate rather than to consult a physician | 2 (1–3) | 1 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 24,558.5 | 0.243 |
To what extent reliance on clinical judgments and opinions from internet discussion groups and forums about your health influence your decision to self-medicate rather than consulting a physician | 2 (1–3) | 1 (1–3) | 2 (1–3) | 28,178.5 | 0.000 * |
How worrisome you consider the risks associated with self-medication | 4 (3–5) | 4 (4–5) | 4 (3–4) | 14,319.5 | 0.000 * |
Variables | Coefficient (β) | S.E. | Wald | p-Value | OR | 95% CI for OR |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Age | 0.020 | 0.008 | 6.310 | 0.012 | 1.020 | 1.004–1.036 |
Knowledge of recommended dosages (KD) | 0.507 | 0.120 | 17.951 | 0.000 | 1.661 | 1.313–2.100 |
Level of perception of the effectiveness of self-medication (ES) | 0.610 | 0.112 | 29.525 | 0.000 | 1.841 | 1.477–2.295 |
Extent to which reliance on clinical judgments and opinions from internet discussion groups and forums about your health influence your decision to self-medicate rather than consulting a physician (RJG) | 0.276 | 0.093 | 8.718 | 0.003 | 1.318 | 1.097–1.583 |
How worrisome you consider the risks associated with self-medication (RS) | −0.683 | 0.133 | 26.321 | 0.000 | 0.505 | 0.389–0.656 |
Constant | −2.202 | 0.850 | 6.707 | 0.010 | 0.111 |
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Cotobal-Calvo, E.M.; Mata-Pérez, C.; Bocchino, A.; Gilart, E.; Gutiérrez-Baena, B.; Palazón-Fernández, J.L. Self-Medication Practice and Associated Factors Among Health Professionals in Spain. Nurs. Rep. 2025, 15, 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15020053
Cotobal-Calvo EM, Mata-Pérez C, Bocchino A, Gilart E, Gutiérrez-Baena B, Palazón-Fernández JL. Self-Medication Practice and Associated Factors Among Health Professionals in Spain. Nursing Reports. 2025; 15(2):53. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15020053
Chicago/Turabian StyleCotobal-Calvo, Eva Manuela, Concepción Mata-Pérez, Anna Bocchino, Ester Gilart, Belén Gutiérrez-Baena, and José Luis Palazón-Fernández. 2025. "Self-Medication Practice and Associated Factors Among Health Professionals in Spain" Nursing Reports 15, no. 2: 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15020053
APA StyleCotobal-Calvo, E. M., Mata-Pérez, C., Bocchino, A., Gilart, E., Gutiérrez-Baena, B., & Palazón-Fernández, J. L. (2025). Self-Medication Practice and Associated Factors Among Health Professionals in Spain. Nursing Reports, 15(2), 53. https://doi.org/10.3390/nursrep15020053