Bambuí Project: a qualitative approach to self-medication

• Main Author: Loyola Filho, Antônio I. de
• Publication Date: 2004
• Other Authors: Lima-Costa, Maria Fernanda, Uchôa, Elizabeth
• Format: Article
• Language: eng
• Source: Cadernos de Saúde Pública
• Download full: https://cadernos.ensp.fiocruz.br/ojs/index.php/csp/article/view/2290
• topic: Anthropology; Self Medication; Qualitative Research

Representations related to self-medication were investigated, seeking to identify contextual elements that can reinforce or inhibit such practice. An anthropological approach based on the model of signs, meanings, and actions was used. Twenty-nine inhabitants from the town of Bambuí, Minas Gerais State, Brazil, were interviewed (17 women and 12 men), selected among participants in a health survey that had been on medication in the previous 90 days. The research focused on the identification of different types of self-medication practiced by the interviewee or by a relative, and then "ways of thinking and behaving" associated with this practice were investigated. The influence of pharmacists/drugstore sales attendants as well as family and friends, perception of the health problem as transitory and a minor issue, familiarity with and easy access to certain pharmaceuticals, as well as difficulties in access to (and negative assessment of) health care were determinant factors for self-medication.