| Summary: | Objective: Determine the prevalence of medication use in children and adolescents in 20 municipalities of Vale do Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais‐Brazil, showing the main groups and variables that may have influenced use.
Methods: Descriptive population‐based survey sample of 555 interviews, selected by simple random cluster sampling of 137 census tracts. Inclusion criteria were age ≤ 14 years, mandatory interview with the legal guardians, and regardless of having received medications. Regarding the usage pattern, participants were divided into two groups: consumption and non‐consumption of drugs. A descriptive analysis of the variables and tests of association were performed.
Results: The prevalence of drug consumption was 56.57%, and 42.43% showed no consumption. The use of medicinal plants was 72.9% for drug users and 74.3% for non‐users. The health conditions for consumption were cough, common cold, flu, nasal congestion or bronchospasm (49.7%), fever (5.4%), headache (5.4%), diarrhea, indigestion, and abdominal colic (6.7%). In cases of self‐medication, 30.57% of the drugs were given by the mother, and 69.42% were prescription drugs. Self‐medication was prevalent using paracetamol (30.2%), dipyrone (20.8%), and cold medicine (18.8%). There was increased use of analgesics/antipyretics, followed by respiratory medications, systemic antibiotics, histamine H1 antagonists, and vitamins/antianemics.
Conclusions: The prevalence of drugs use in children was high, indicating the need for formulating educational programs aiming at the awareness of caregivers regarding rational use.
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