Automedicação em oftalmologia

• Autor(a) principal: De Espíndola, Rodrigo França [UNESP]
• Data de Publicação: 2008
• Outros Autores: Schellini, Silvana Artioli [UNESP], Padovani, Carlos Roberto [UNESP]
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNESP
• Texto Completo: http://www.revistas.usp.br/rmrp/article/view/262; http://hdl.handle.net/11449/70384
• topic: Blindness; Ophthalmic solution; Prevention; Self medication; eye drops; vasoconstrictor agent; adolescent; adult; aged; blindness; contact lens; controlled study; cost; eye disease; female; human; major clinical study; male; ointment; ophthalmology; risk factor; school child; self medication; visual impairment

Purpose: To analyze the conditions, consequences and risks of self-medication in patients attended in ophthalmology emergency room at Hospital das Clínicas de Botucatu (UNESP). Methods: Sixty patients who had used any form of self-medication were studied according: age, sex, professional activity, mainly complain, visual acuity (best-corrected vision), who administrated the self-medication (friends/parents, pharmacy clerk, advertisement, or the person himself), sort of medication or product used (eyedrops/ointments/contact lenses), cost (R$), time expenditure to medical attention, ocular complications, risk of visual loss and final diagnose. Results: The majority of patients with self-medication were male (72%). The mean age was 40,9 years (7-77 years). Patients usually used eyedrops that they had at home and delayed 3 days to the first medical evaluation. The most frequently kind of topical eyedrop used was vasoconstrictor (17%). However, many patients even knew what kind of medication they had dropped in their eyes (21%). The great majority of the patients (68%) were exposed to the risk of visual loss. According to our results, self-medication may cause visual complications in 12% of patients, in which, 42% was related to the contact lenses fit without ophthalmologic assistance. Conclusion: The majory of the patients used medication that they had in home. The topical vasoconstrictor was the most frequently used drug, however, they did not know which medication were dropping in their eyes (21%).