AUTOMEDICAÇÃO E NÍVEL DE CONHECIMENTO SOBRE USO RACIONAL DE MEDICAMENTOS EM COMUNIDADES DE CIUDAD DEL ESTE, PARAGUAY.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36557/2674-8169.2026v8n3p198-212Keywords:
Automedicação, Uso racional de medicamentos, Saúde pública, Educação em saúde, Comunidade vulnerável.Abstract
A automedicação, definida como a seleção e o uso de medicamentos pelos próprios indivíduos para tratar condições autodiagnosticadas ou sintomas, constitui uma prática de saúde pública globalizada com profundas implicações clínicas, epidemiológicas e econômicas. Clinicamente, está associada ao mascaramento de doenças graves, atraso no diagnóstico adequado, ocorrência de reações adversas e intoxicações medicamentosas. O objetivo deste artigo é avaliar a prevalência, os padrões e os determinantes da automedicação na comunidade do KM 8 de Ciudad Nueva e Alto Refugio KM4, em Ciudad del Este, Paraguai; identificar os medicamentos mais utilizados sem prescrição, as fontes de informação, os fatores socioculturais associados e os efeitos adversos percebidos; e desenhar/implementar uma intervenção educativa para promover o uso racional de medicamentos (URM) e medir seu impacto preliminar no conhecimento e nas atitudes da população. Trata-se de um estudo observacional, transversal, com componente educativo-intervencional (pré e pós-intervenção). O desenho misto permitiu, inicialmente, diagnosticar a situação (fase transversal) e, posteriormente, implementar e avaliar preliminarmente uma intervenção baseada nos achados (fase intervencional), seguindo os princípios da pesquisa-ação participativa. A automedicação é uma prática hiperprevalente, normalizada e multifatorial na comunidade vulnerável estudada em Ciudad del Este. A intervenção educativa implementada demonstrou ser uma estratégia viável, aceita e preliminarmente eficaz para aumentar o conhecimento sobre os riscos e promover o uso racional de medicamentos.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Aline Feistel, Guilherme Solano Melo Pinho , Leandro Lelis Marques Gondim, Fernanda Fogaça Farias, Guilherme Giachetto Pradella, Danillo Farias Gonzaga, Pamela Danitza Lozano Carvalho, Sarah Mendes da Silva , Ana Mísia Almeida Barros dos Santos, Penha Roza Paiva da Conceição, Carolina Ariel Ferraz da Silva, Wanessa Cristina Filgueiras Fonseca
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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