The incorrect use of emergency contraceptives (AE), and the contribution of pharmaceutical guidance

• Autor(a) principal: Silveira, Eleidiane Ferreira da
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Outros Autores: Santos, Rithyelle-Lannucy Sousa, Morais, Yolanda de Jesus
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Research, Society and Development
• Texto Completo: https://rsdjournal.org/index.php/rsd/article/view/36070
• topic: Emergency contraceptive; Pharmaceutical; Self-medication.; Anticonceptivo de emergencia; Farmacéutico; Automedicación.; Anticoncepcional de emergência; Farmacêutico; Automedicação.

Among the medicated contraceptive methods marketed in Brazil, there is emergency contraception, the well-known "morning after pill" in which it is used to prevent unwanted pregnancy. The indication of this drug provides for atypical circumstances such as the incorrect use of another contraceptive method and in situations that refer to sexual abuse or rape. Therefore, indiscriminate use can lead to problems for women's health. It is understood that the ease of access to purchase this medication enables self-medication, which becomes a public health problem. In this aspect, pharmaceutical guidance is essential to break with the culture of indiscriminately self-medicating, thus avoiding complications to women's health resulting from the inappropriate use of this medication. It is known that the pharmacist is an essential professional to ensure the effective dispensing of medicines/products. It is important to note that even the medicine being over-the-counter or herbal has contraindications that can compromise the health of the consumer. Therefore, the objective of the study was to discuss the harm caused by the incorrect use of emergency contraceptives, as well as the importance of pharmaceutical guidance to reduce indiscriminate self-medication. This is a descriptive bibliographic research supported by articles from electronic journals published from 2016 to 2022 in which they discuss the proposed theme. It was evidenced that the indiscriminate use of emergency contraceptives can lead to problems for women's health, moreover, that when the user is guided by the pharmacy professional about the use of the drug, the self-medication rate is reduced.